On Tuesday, the city of Brentwood attached written public comments to its agenda which included a letter submitted to both the City Council and to this publication regarding Brentwood City Manager G. Harold Duffey.
In total, the council received several comments at 48-total pages, including a letter previous published by employee unions expressing concerns over the city manager.
Here is a copy of the letter:
Dear Mayor Meyer and Members of the City Council:
I would like to remain anonymous, although I understand that may be difficult. I am one of the men working at the City, and this letter concerns Item D.1: Public Employee Performance Evaluation for the Closed Session scheduled on May 26, 2026. I respectfully urge the City Council to place the City Manager on administrative leave pending an independent third-party investigation into the workplace culture concerns and gender-based discrimination that have been raised by multiple employees.
Over the past several weeks, I witnessed multiple incidents involving the treatment of female staff members inside the City Hall. I have already shared those incidents in detail with the Human Resources (HR) Department, the Mayor, and the Vice Mayor. I made the intentional decision not to publicly share those details in written comments because I want to protect the identities and emotional well-being of the women involved. These women are already going through enough. They should not also have to carry the fear of public embarrassment, gossip, retaliation, or becoming “the problem” simply because someone finally decided to speak up for them.
But there is one thing I can publicly say: As a man, I experienced a completely different level of treatment than my female colleagues. Whenever the City Manager needed my attention, he would walk over to my desk and respectfully ask, “Do you have a minute?” or “Can we talk about the projects you are working on?” He treated me professionally and respectfully.
But when it came to female staff members, I witnessed behavior that honestly broke my heart. I witnessed women being summoned over through finger waving and hand gestures that felt degrading and dehumanizing. The employee told me “I felt like I was his dog.” I also witnessed female staff members being expected to organize, pay for, and clean up staff functions and workplace activities while the men around them were not asked or expected to contribute in the same way at all. The full details have already been documented with HR.
What I witnessed was not simply a “management style” or a misunderstanding. I witnessed a pattern where women were treated differently, spoken to differently, and expected to carry burdens that the men around them were not expected to carry. That is not leadership. That is gender-based discrimination. And what if these concerns eventually reach State civil rights agencies or the courts? The cost to the City and its taxpayers could become very significant.
Last night, my father asked me a question I have not been able to stop thinking about: “You know you may be fired for speaking up, right? Why are you willing to risk your job to speak up for the women you have only known for a month?”
I spent a lot of time reflecting on that question. And the truth is, I am not doing this because I think I am brave or heroic. I am not heroic at all. I am just an ordinary guy whose life was shaped by women who sacrificed everything for him.
After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, my community back home suffered deeply. Refugee families like mine arrived in America carrying trauma, loss, and uncertainty. The men and women of the United States stood up for us, welcomed us, and gave us opportunities to rebuild our lives. One of those people was a kind and fearless woman with the name Tippi Hedren. She helped refugee women enter the beauty industry.
Because of opportunities like that, the women in my family became nail technicians and later successful business owners. The women in my family worked 10- to 12-hour days, breathing chemicals, keeping their heads down, and sometimes enduring disrespect from customers, all so the younger generation like myself could have a better life.
Because of those women, I was able to earn my bachelor’s degree. Then my master’s degree. Then acceptance into a PhD program. Because of those women, I had the privilege of leaving the private sector, taking a pay cut, and entering public service because I believed government should be about helping and protecting people.
My public service journey eventually brought me to Brentwood, where I met women who remind me so much of those in my own family. Women who keep their heads down.
Women who work hard. Women who quietly carry responsibilities at home while still showing up professionally every single day.
And that is why this has affected me so deeply. Because when I witnessed female staff members being treated with disrespect while I, as a man, was treated professionally and respectfully, something inside me could not accept it. These women are somebody’s daughters. Somebody’s mothers. Somebody’s wife. Somebody’s entire world. And they deserve better than this.
I know speaking up may come with consequences for me professionally. But silence also has consequences. Silence teaches women to quietly endure disrespect.
Silence teaches employees that fear is safer than honesty. I also think about the young men and boys in my own family and community. I want to set an example for them. I want them to grow up understanding that when women are being disrespected or treated unfairly, we do not stay silent, nor do we look away because the problem is “not ours.” We stand beside the women in our lives. We use our voices when they are afraid to use theirs.
I also do not want Brentwood to become a place where women feel they must stay quiet just to survive professionally. The women inside Brentwood City Hall are watching what happens next. So are the men who work beside them.
Respectfully,
A Male Employee
To view the written public comment on the city website, click here
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