The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to allow more time to complete an investigation into accusations against General Manager Adel Hagekhalil, who was placed on leave more than four months ago in response to harassment allegations by the agency’s chief financial officer.
The board’s decision will extend Hagekhalil’s leave of absence until an investigator has finished interviews and submitted a report on the findings.
“The investigation is being conducted independently by an outside investigator,” said Adán Ortega Jr., chair of the MWD board. “The investigator is down to final witnesses.”
The outcome is expected to determine whether Hagekhalil is fired or reinstated as the top manager of California’s largest urban water supplier. During more than three years on the job, he has called for transforming the agency and has focused on adaptation to climate change, in part by reducing reliance on water supplies from distant sources and investing in local water supplies.
Some of the accusations against Hagekhalil surfaced in a letter to the board from Chief Financial Officer Katano Kasaine, who alleged he had harassed, demeaned and sidelined her and created a hostile work environment. Hagekhalil has denied the accusations, saying he has always treated other employees with respect and professionalism.
“I’ve been compelled to defend my reputation and my job based on my record of inclusion, collaboration, reform and results,” Hagekhalil told the board during Monday’s meeting. “I have not committed any misconduct.”
The MWD board placed Hagekhalil on leave on June 13. He said the investigator contacted him for the first time on Friday to schedule an interview, but Hagekhalil’s lawyer wasn’t available, so the interview is being rescheduled.
Kasaine wrote in her May 27 letter that she has been “maligned, harassed, bullied, and sidelined from my core responsibilities.” She said Hagekhalil’s “preference for male colleagues/staff over me has continued to sow the seeds of sexism and belittling.”
She also criticized Hagekhalil’s hiring of a team of trusted, highly paid consultants, calling it “an entire shadow leadership team, wielding more power than those holding official titles.”
Hagekhalil said he hasn’t done anything wrong and is ready to tell his side of the story. He said he hopes to return to the job.
“I will continue to strive to treat everyone with courtesy, respect and dignity. That’s who I am,” he told the board. “I’m committed to working with you and the employees to find these solutions to move us forward and heal the organization.”
Hagekhalil’s lawyer, Kerry Garvis Wright, said she has learned that other employees referenced in Kasaine’s complaint also have yet to be interviewed.
“Mr. Hagekhalil himself has identified more than 40 witnesses with knowledge of the allegations,” Garvis Wright said. “We continue to have enormous concerns about the process and the lack of fairness and independence of the investigation.”
It’s the second time the board has voted to extend his leave of absence. The leave had been scheduled to end this week.
Board members discussed the matter and voted to approve the extension in closed session after listening to comments from the public for more than two hours.
About 50 people spoke in support of Hagekhalil, praising him as a talented leader with a record of being respectful, inclusive and supportive of women. Many urged the board to reinstate him. The supporters included MWD employees, residents, environmental advocates, Los Angeles city officials and others who have worked with Hagekhalil.
Six other people spoke critically of Hagekhalil, saying the accusations are serious and the board should base its decision on the investigation’s findings, not attempts by his allies to sway the process.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said the investigation has lasted a long time, which is “not a good look.”
“I’m very concerned about what’s going on here,” Blumenfield said. “I know that there is a lot of water politics going on always. This is California. But I really hope that that doesn’t interfere with what this good man is trying to do to help our region and to help us with our water policy.”
The Metropolitan Water District delivers water to cities and agencies that supply 19 million people across Southern California.
The sidelining of Hagekhalil has occurred at a time when the MWD’s leaders are involved in major projects and facing momentous decisions, including preparing a climate adaptation plan, developing the country’s largest wastewater recycling facility, and considering whether to contribute additional funds for the planning of California’s proposed $20-billion water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Former L.A. City Councilmember Paul Koretz said Hagekhalil is “one of the finest executives I’ve ever worked with.”
“It appears to me, his only real fault was not always agreeing with his subordinates on policy,” Koretz said. “Unfortunately, this kind of trumped-up charge is more of the stuff of which California water policy is known and famous for. Adel doesn’t need to be censured. He needs an apology. The way this has been handled is frankly embarrassing.”
Hagekhalil previously worked for the city of Los Angeles’ leading programs focusing on sewers and streets. He was appointed the MWD’s general manager in 2021 after a bitter power struggle among board members.
Bruce Reznik, executive director of the group Los Angeles Waterkeeper, said he understood that such personnel issues require caution, but that nothing in the complaints that have come to light would warrant dismissing Hagekhalil.
“It’s now been more or less a four-month fishing expedition and I don’t think you’ve caught any fish,” Reznik said. “And that’s one of my worries, is we can keep dragging this out.”
Others praised Hagekhalil’s character and leadership style.
Hillary Norton, former chair of the California Transportation Commission, called him a “collaborator who is respectful to women, uplifts new ideas that stem from women leaders and gives women the opportunity to say what they need to say, speak their mind and support their leadership.”
Norton said she has been in “harassing environments” in local and state government, but Hagekhalil is “someone who would stand up for women.”
In recent letters to the board, some employee groups have criticized Hagekhalil’s management and what they say are failures.
The Hispanic Employees Assn. urged the board to “hold him accountable for his actions that go against his responsibility to cultivate and maintain a fair, equitable, and inclusive workplace.”
The Black Employees Assn. said there has been a “a pattern of behavior by Mr. Hagekhalil negatively affecting several members, particularly Black women.”
Darcy Burke, president and chief executive of the business consulting firm WaterMark Associates, said the comments by some that Hagekhalil is a “good leader” are irrelevant to investigating the complaints against him.
“There are only two questions you must answer today: Are these allegations true? And if so, what is your course of action?” Burke said. “As the leader of this organization, the general manager sets the culture and tone. Condoning his behavior tells the women of Metropolitan that they are indeed second-class citizens, that inappropriate behavior is encouraged and rewarded.”
Bernadette Robertson, the MWD’s controller, raised other concerns, saying Hagekhalil “does not listen to and respect the people that know the finances” of the agency.
Annette Eckhardt, president of an employee group called Women at Metropolitan, criticized a recent Los Angeles Times column about the investigation, saying the board should disregard “unsubstantiated comments and speculation.” She said the board should carefully review the results of the investigations, “which are supposed to be impartial, and only then decide to take actions based on what is best” for the district.
Ellen Mackey, a senior ecologist and leader of the women’s caucus at the MWD, called for reinstating Hagekhalil while the investigation proceeds. She praised him for making progress improving the culture at the agency, “but we fear we are now losing ground with those more comfortable with the old, abusive work environment.”
Ortega, the board chair, said after the meeting that the investigation “must be thorough, fair and respectful of the rights of everyone involved.”
While the investigation continues, Deven Upadhyay is serving as interim general manager.
“While I know many would have preferred for our board to have reached a conclusion today, we must take care to protect the independence of the outside investigator and give them time to hear witnesses and affected parties who may be impacted, and to produce a report,” Ortega said. “A fair and thorough process for all parties involved is our priority.”
Some civil rights advocates have raised concerns about potential discrimination in the process. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has told the water district that Hagekhalil has been “subjected to discriminatory and racist actions and behaviors” by some board members.
Hagekhalil is the first Muslim Arab American general manager in the district’s history. He grew up in Lebanon with his Palestinian family before immigrating to the United States in 1984.
“We are concerned about the potential discriminatory, anti-Arab, and Islamophobia sentiment coloring his placement on leave and the current investigation,” Amr Shabaik, the council’s legal director in Los Angeles, said in a letter to the MWD board last week.
“We are aware that Board members have used derogatory terms against immigrants, Muslims, and Arabs. Such alleged statements include the following: ‘When are we going to get rid of those refugees?’ ‘When are we going to hire someone that we can pronounce their last name,’ and calling Muslims and Arab Americans ‘Camel Jockeys,’” Shabaik wrote.
“We ask that the potential discrimination and harassment against Mr. Hagekhalil be addressed and remedied,” he said.
MWD spokesperson Rebecca Kimitch said the agency “takes all accusations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation seriously,” and that these allegations are being treated in accordance with the district’s antidiscrimination policies.