Jackie Pata, a citizen
of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes, has served as executive director of the
National Congress of American Indians since 2001. She is the longest serving
executive director in the organization's history. Photo: NCAI
National Congress of American Indians suspends highest-ranking staffer
Monday, October 22, 2018
Executive director Jackie Pata sidelined amid concerns about #MeToo investigation
By Acee Agoyo
DENVER, Colorado -- Jackie Pata, the highest-ranking staffer at the National Congress of American Indians, has been placed on leave as questions mount about her handling of a #MeToo scandal and other long-standing employee complaints.
As they prepare for a milestone conference in Denver, Colorado, tribal leaders who serve on NCAI's executive committee made the decision to suspend Pata on Saturday. She will be sidelined pending the results of an investigation into allegations of staff misconduct, one of the issues that Indianz.Com has reported on over the last two months.
The allegations, which resulted in the ouster of NCAI's senior attorney, have eroded confidence in the nation's oldest and largest inter-tribal organization. Some tribal leaders, as well as advocates for Native women, have been seeking greater transparency and accountability in the wake of Indianz.Com's first report on August 31.
The executive committee's action represents a response to some of those concerns. Resolutions submitted ahead of NCAI’s 75th annual convention, which begins on Monday, called for Pata to be suspended pending an independent review of management, financial and other issues at the organization.
Thank you to the #NativeOwned@Tocabe, an American Indian eatery, for hosting our NCAI crew this evening. Check out their food truck on California and 14th in downtown Denver this Tuesday and Thursday, 11-2 pm at #NCAI75. Support #NativeBusinesspic.twitter.com/AqXRZXVWLR
But the decision doesn’t go as far as sought by some in Indian Country. Instead of authorizing an investigation by an outside entity, NCAI for now has tasked an “ad hoc committee” with looking into the allegations.
The group is composed of tribal leaders who serve on the executive committee, according to a statement issued late Saturday night, just two days before the convention opens. But they won’t be looking into all of the complaints that have been outlined in one of the submitted resolutions.
“The NCAI executive committee established the ad hoc committee to review how allegations of staff misconduct have been addressed previously by the organization,” the statement read, outlining the limited nature of the internal probe.
Still, the decision marks a shift in course. NCAI has repeatedly defended its response to the scandal in three letters written by President Jefferson Keel, each one drafted after Indianz.Com published additional stories about the complaints that have rocked the organization’s standing.
And the move represents a setback for Pata, who has served as executive director at NCAI since 2001. Just two days before learning her fate, she was telling a much friendlier audience of Native leaders in Alaska -- her home state -- that she planned to be present at her organization’s conference all week, emphasizing NCAI's recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
But with Pata out of the picture, NCAI will be overseen by a “team of NCAI senior leadership staff,” according to the Saturday night statement. The group consists of Virginia Davis, a senior policy advisor at the organization, Derrick Beetso, the recently-named general counsel, and Yvette Roubideaux, a former federal government official who heads up NCAI’s Policy Research Center.
Despite the new action, at least two members of this team have connections to the #MeToo allegations that cost John Dossett, NCAI’s former general counsel, his job. Davis, who is a part-time staffer, had initially been tasked — by Pata — earlier this year with investigating allegations against him, according to multiple former employees.
Only after facing pushback within the organization did Pata bring in a Washington, D.C., attorney whose work focuses on sexual harassment within the workplace to review complaints against Dossett. Following the review, his title was changed to senior counsel at NCAI.
Beetso was then unceremoniously named NCAI’s general counsel in late July. His promotion marked the first time a tribal citizen has held the job — Dossett is non-Indian and had served in the post since 1995 — yet there was no public announcement or explanation of the action.
And like Dossett, whose primary residence is in Oregon, Beetso is not based in Washington, where most of NCAI’s staff is housed in the Embassy of Tribal Nations. The Navajo Nation citizen has usually worked from Arizona since joining the organization.
The naming of a leadership team also sidesteps the new deputy director at NCAI. Ahniwake Rose, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was recently tapped to fill the vacant position, just as Pata was facing questions about her own leadership.
Rose has served as executive director of the National Indian Education Association since 2012. The organization rents space from NCAI on the grounds of the Embassy in D.C. though its board of directors recently voted to move most of its operations to Minnesota.
Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Jacqueline Pata of National
Congress of American Indians addresses the Alaska Federation of Natives
The upheaval comes as NCAI meets in Denver, where the organization was formed in 1944 to address threats against tribal sovereignty, including termination of the federal trust relationship. It has since grown to become the largest and most representative Indian organization, representing tribes from Alaska to Maine to Florida.
But some of the member tribes have raised concerns about NCAI's management. Many were first alerted to the situation when Nicole Hallingstad resigned as director of operations in August, warning Indian Country of an “oppressive culture” that has contributed to widespread staff turnover in recent years.
“Committed staff does not lightly leave an organization they love and a mission
they are passionate about fulfilling,” Hallingstad, a citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes, wrote in
an August 13 letter
to tribal leaders. “But when they see
colleagues marginalized, disciplined, punished, and even terminated for trying
to address issues of poor management – or bad actors not held to account for
disrespectful behavior – and the oppressive culture of silence and lack of
authentic process means they cannot speak with their voices, then they will
speak with their feet.”
Since then, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi
Indians has withdrawn from NCAI, citing concerns about the way Native women were treated. Few others have publicly followed suit -- the Cherokee Nation just last week renewed its membership -- Chief J. B. Milam was one of the tribal leaders who helped form the organization in 1944.
"Tribes across the country, including the Cherokee Nation, are stronger today thanks to the work of NCAI over the years, and I am proud we are able to be a part of such an important organization,” Joe Byrd, the speaker of the tribal council, said in a press release. Byrd also serves as an area vice president for NCAI and is among those who sit on the executive committee.
But others are calling for change. Harold Frazier, the
chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe, was the leader who submitted the resolution seeking Pata's suspension.
Kevin DuPuis, the chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa, submitted the resolution calling for an independent investigation. His request presents a number of issues that he wants addressed, such as NCAI's financial status, a record of how employee complaints -- including those against Dossett -- were handled and a list of grievances that were brought to Pata in her role as executive director.
According to President Keel's most recent letter, Dossett was the subject of "two specific allegations" of sexual harassment. One was the subject of an "earlier internal investigation," he wrote on October 11. [Full Letter: ]
October 11, 2018
Dear NCAI Members,
I know that many of you are concerned by the recent news accounts you have read about NCAI. I understand that you would like greater transparency, and that you may be frustrated by our inability to legally share more details about specific allegations or personnel matters. To some, our silence has raised questions about whether we are adequately addressing the situation. I want to assure you that we are. NCAI is committed to providing a safe and supportive workplace for all of its employees. To that end, I want to share information on the actions that NCAI has taken concerning the issues that have been raised:
• Ad hoc committee established: The NCAI Executive Committee has established an ad hoc committee composed of tribal leaders who serve on the Executive Committee to review how allegations of misconduct have been addressed previously by the organization. The ad hoc committee’s work is currently underway and the report of its findings is forthcoming.
• Workplace culture audit initiated: We have also hired an outside firm to conduct an audit of NCAI’s workplace culture, which will include interviews with staff and other stakeholders, to get a better sense of the current work climate at NCAI and make recommendations. This audit is currently underway.
NCAI will move swiftly to implement the recommendations that these two processes identify. In the meantime, we have taken other actions that we know are necessary to strengthen NCAI as an organization:
• Increasing HR capacity: NCAI has engaged an HR consultant to review processes, train staff, and be available should a need arise for external reviews in the future.
• Staff and executive committee trainings on investigating workplace misconduct: NCAI has hired an outside expert to train several staff and board representatives on best practices for conducting workplace misconduct investigations. This has been scheduled and will take place soon.
In addition, earlier this year, we took several other steps designed to strengthen NCAI’s workplace:
• External review of NCAI’s complaints process: NCAI hired an external expert to review its policies and procedures for handling complaints and implemented updates as recommended.
• Organization-wide trainings on harassment and complaint policies: NCAI held trainings at all levels of the organization on NCAI’s harassment and complaint policies and the specific responsibilities of staff, supervisors, and executive committee members under those policies.
• Supervisory training: NCAI required all supervisors to attend a day-long supervisory training.
Many of these actions were initiated before the first news article was published, and some have evolved based upon the concerns and suggestions you have shared with us.
In addition, last week NCAI confirmed in statements to the media that John Dossett no longer works for the organization. While he and others have elected to release public statements detailing claims and allegations and to share confidential internal documents, they have done so without NCAI’s approval or authorization.
These actions have violated the privacy of NCAI employees, and are contrary to the manner in which staff are treated when they raise concerns at NCAI. NCAI must follow a standard that protects its employees’ privacy and shields the organization from unnecessary liability. This is the right thing to do legally, but more importantly, ethically.
Part of maintaining a positive, healthy work environment is providing staff a space where they feel comfortable bringing workplace issues to our attention without fear that their concerns will be released to the media for dissection by the public or otherwise shared with outside sources.
NCAI stands by its employees and our responsibility to respect their privacy even in the face of outside pressure to do otherwise. However, in the interest of transparency, I want to share what I can with you about NCAI’s response to the specific incidents that have been highlighted in the news.
Earlier this year, NCAI hired an external investigator who investigated two specific allegations of sexual harassment against John Dossett, one of which had been the subject of an earlier internal investigation. In conducting this investigation, the external investigator spoke with many current and former employees, including some former employees who learned about the investigation and requested an opportunity to speak. The investigation concluded with recommendations that NCAI promptly implemented.
Some of you have asked for more specific information, such as providing internal investigation findings and outcomes for review. But to comply with these requests would jeopardize those parties who have chosen privacy over publicity.
As NCAI addresses these issues and resolves concerns, please know that we will continue to work relentlessly to earn your confidence, and, at the same time, ensure that our focus at every level of the organization remains on strengthening our service to you, our Members, and the values we all hold most dear.
When I was elected, I ran on a campaign to bring results to Indian Country through NCAI. This pledge is part of who I am, and I feel confident that this current situation is no different. NCAI will resolve these issues through this process, and NCAI will emerge from it stronger than before. I thank you for giving me your time and ask for your patience as we address these issues in a caring and purposeful manner. Indian Country deserves a strong NCAI and that is what we will provide.
Respectfully,
Jefferson Keel
NCAI President
Pata took it upon herself to investigate that earlier incident, multiple former employees told Indianz.Com. But until NCAI brought in the outside attorney earlier this year, there is no record that she fully resolved the complaint even though it stems from Dossett's conduct at an NCAI conference in June 2016.
Dossett himself wrote of the incident in an unusual and lengthy statement that he sent to a wide audience of tribal leaders, Native women advocates and key staff members on Capitol Hill using his NCAI email account on October 3. Later in the day, Pata confirmed to Indianz.Com that he no longer worked for the organization.
“NCAI had no knowledge of, and John was not authorized to send, that statement
to anyone,” Pata said. “Further, I can only confirm that John Dossett is no
longer employed by NCAI."
Keel confirmed the same in his October 11 letter. Dossett emailed his statement
"without NCAI’s approval or authorization," the president wrote, and "no longer
works for the organization."
In his unauthorized statement, Dossett disclosed details of a second complaint, which also stems from an incident at the same NCAI
mid-year conference in Spokane. Keel, in his most recent letter, criticized the former attorney for providing information about fellow employees that he deemed to be confidential.
“These actions have violated the privacy of NCAI employees, and are contrary to the manner in which staff are treated when they raise concerns at NCAI," Keel wrote.
Jackie Pata, a citizen
of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes, has served as executive director of the
National Congress of American Indians since 2001. As the longest serving
executive director in the organization's history, she is seen here at NCAI's
mid-year conference in Spokane, Washington, in June 2016. John Dossett, the
organization's former senior attorney, appears in the background. Photo: NCAI
Keel, who also serves as lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation, did not directly address how Dossett was able to obtain a copy of what appears to be an investigative report into his conduct. Dossett seemingly was able to quote directly from parts of it in his lengthy statement.
In a statement to Indianz.Com, a former employee who acknowledged making a complaint against Dossett said she was never told of the outcome of the investigation by the outside attorney.
"As she informed me when we met, I would never be privy to the contents of her investigative report— having left NCAI," the former employee wrote in reference to the attorney from the law firm of
Vedder Price.
"I recently learned, however, that she found my allegations against John Dossett to be credible and reported this to NCAI’s Executive Council," said the former employee, who has been granted anonymity to share her statement out of concern for her privacy. [Full Statement: ]
Note: A former employee at the National Congress of Americans who filed a sexual harassment complaint first reached out to Indianz.Com on September 26, 2018. She reached out not to share the contents of her complaint, which had been filed February 26, 2018, but to shed light on the processes that unfolded at NCAI once it was filed.
Subsequently, John Dossett released a lengthy statement as he was being ousted from his role as NCAI's senior attorney. In it, he refers to this former employee in a section labeling her as a someone who "picks up the axe” against him. She has since agreed to share additional details of her complaint and has been granted anonymity to protect her privacy.
“Never was I coerced in filing my complaint. Never would I have imagined that its contents would be shared directly with the alleged harasser, nor would those contents then be shared—verbatim—with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator [Chuck] Schumer’s Office, and countless others John Dossett copied on his email. To see the words I wrote so publicly displayed is numbing, nauseating.
The incident described in 2016 never sat well with me, but I never felt empowered to do anything about it—especially after seeing other women who had come forward be dismissed and discredited within NCAI. When significant revisions to the Employee Handbook were introduced in August 2017—shortly after Sam Owl, the CFO, was fired—I took notice of the following section for the first time:
Section 1. The Way We Work: Sexual Harassment:
While it is not easy to define precisely what sexual harassment is, it may include: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature including, but not limited to, sexually-related drawings, pictures, jokes, teasing, e-mails, text messages, uninvited touching, or other sexually-related comments.
John Dossett’s offhand comment about masturbation was a violation and it was unwelcome. The incident struck me as so deeply inappropriate that I shared it privately with 2 colleagues within 2 hours of its occurrence, and 1 colleague the morning after—still disturbed by it. Each individual has memory of this and has corroborated my account.
In his statement, John Dossett asserts that I ‘likely misheard’ him. I did not. His reference to ‘beating off’ was completely in line with his confession to making ‘inappropriate jokes in unguarded moments.’ It was so nonchalant—without a care for how it could be received by a female junior staffer who interacted with him infrequently.
After seeing sexual harassment explicitly defined in August 2017, I knew the protections I deserved and I knew I needed to document my experience. Still fearing retaliation, I filed the complaint six months later—after securing a new job. Too often, this is the pattern: leave NCAI if you want change. I didn’t expect my complaint to effect much change, but knew it would establish a record, lay a marker in the ground.
‘Allegations of sexual harassment are very serious matters, and the Executive Director investigated, and concluded that none had taken place.’ In this very sentence, John Dossett confirms that complaints were kept internal. NCAI Executive Director Jacqueline Pata positioned herself as the judge and jury of the sexual harassment allegations raised in 2016. There was never an external legal investigation.
In my case, Jacqueline Pata assigned Virginia Davis as the lead investigator for NCAI. Ms. Davis, who serves as NCAI’s Senior Policy Advisor, has known John Dossett personally and professionally for more than a decade, co-supervised the Legal team with him, and had her timesheets approved by him. This assignment struck me as wholly inappropriate and lacking due care.
I fought against this internally-driven process—researching my rights as a complainant, crafting and posing a series of questions on Ms. Davis’ conflicts of interest, her current knowledge of employment and sexual harassment laws in the District of Columbia, and her qualifications to serve in a Human Resources capacity. Only after documenting these concerns did NCAI retain the services of Sadina Montani from Vedder Price on March 9, 2018.
To this day, I am uncertain of the scope and scale of Ms. Montani’s inquiry. As she informed me when we met, I would never be privy to the contents of her investigative report— having left NCAI. I recently learned, however, that she found my allegations against John Dossett to be credible and reported this to NCAI’s Executive Council.
I was unaware of any disciplinary action against John Dossett —in the form of a reassignment—until the Indianz.com article was published. Although Dossett assumes I was one of their ‘anonymous sources,’ this is patently false. Only after seeing NCAI’s line of defense, I reached out to Indianz.com on September 26, 2018 to set the record straight about how allegations were handled earlier this year.
NCAI’s letters to tribal leaders and members on September 18 and 25 are a demonstration of why it is painful to come forward with these complaints. Rather than acknowledging that the organization could have handled things better and engaged external legal counsel to investigate from the beginning, it went immediately on the defensive. NCAI President Jefferson Keel called the published allegations ‘misleading’ and ‘devoid of facts.’ He stated NCAI’s ‘first step was to retain an outside legal expert on sexual harassment law and related issues to conduct an investigation.’ I have documentary evidence that this is not true. Like John Dossett, I welcome further investigation.
Many of us who left NCAI still work in tribal policy and advocacy. To go on the record may mean risking livelihoods, relationships, and more. I sincerely hope no one will have to name themselves—be the face of the harassed—for this matter to register strongly with tribal leadership and members of NCAI. Make no mistake that many people who left NCAI kept records—email exchanges, contemporaneous notes, and files—that should be, and now to a limited extent have been, brought under review.
This is not a coordinated attack; people ‘came out of the woodwork’ in the course of the investigation into John Dossett’s behavior because many individuals had their own accounts of his harassment, intimidation, and bullying. And they witnessed how his behavior was consistently protected, enabled, and excused. No longer.
Although John Dossett is gone, this issue is systemic. The executive leadership of NCAI should be asked what they knew and when, and be held to account when appropriate actions were not taken to advance safety in the workplace.”
According to DuPuis’s resolution, NCAI's administrative board -- its president, vice president, secretary and treasurer -- have refused to provide details of the investigation to other tribal leaders.
John Dossett, former general counsel and former senior counsel
at the National Congress of American Indians, is seen in a 2016 photo at an NCAI event in Washington, D.C. Photo: NCAI
Pata's suspension is open ended but it is not her first. In April 2014, she was suspended for a week after she had been accused of misusing her executive director position in a matter affecting her husband, who is also an employee of NCAI. She firmly denied any wrongdoing in an email seen by Indianz.Com.
But by that time, a number of tribes had already grown dissatisfied with her management. Earlier in 2014, the Great Plains
Tribal Chairman's Association, the United Tribes of
North Dakota and even a tribe in Pata's home state of Alaska were among
those that passed resolutions within their own organizations calling on NCAI to find a new executive director.
Members of NCAI's executive board at the time had indeed considered replacing
Pata and even began reaching out to potential candidates. But they did not take
further action on her employment as executive director.
A request for comment sent to Pata via email on Saturday resulted in a standard "automatic reply" from her NCAI account.
"As a condition of our continued membership in the NCAI, we require that women within the organization are treated with respect." Chairman Mark Fox of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation issues statement on the National Congress of American Indians. #MeToopic.twitter.com/kSuCS6nOjK
NCAI's 75th annual convention is taking place at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center. The recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month takes place on Wednesday.
The conference concludes on Friday.
NCAI Statement
The following statement was issued late in the evening on October 20, 2018:
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Executive Committee announced this evening that NCAI Executive Director Jacqueline Pata has been placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a review by an ad hoc committee composed of tribal leaders who serve on the Executive Committee.
The NCAI Executive Committee established the ad hoc committee to review how allegations of staff misconduct have been addressed previously by the organization. A team of NCAI senior leadership staff – Senior Advisor Virginia Davis, General Counsel Derrick Beetso, and Policy Research Center Director Yvette Roubideaux – have been appointed by the Administrative Officers to lead NCAI while the ad hoc committee review is in process.
