Report 2021-104 Recommendation 16 Responses

Report 2021-104: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: Its Leadership Has Failed to Promote Transparency or Ensure a Fair and Equitable Workplace (Release Date: April 2022)

Recommendation #16 To: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

To prevent bias in hiring, by October 2022 MWD should reinstate the EEO office's role in the hiring process and develop formal procedures describing that role.

6-Month Agency Response

In an effort to ensure equality of opportunity for all Metropolitan employees or applicants for employment, Metropolitan reinstated EEO Office participation in the recruitment and selection process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

MWD provided written procedures, effective October 2022, that officially reinstate and describe the role of its EEO office in recruitment and hiring processes. The procedures indicate that the EEO office will participate in hiring processes as it deems necessary or as its workload allows. Although it may be reasonable for the EEO office to play a more or less involved role depending on the nature of the recruitment or other considerations, MWD will be more likely to succeed in addressing the issues we found if it demonstrates a consistent commitment to carrying out the actions described in the procedures.

60-Day Agency Response

Metropolitan's human resources is working with its EEO Office to formalize procedures to prevent bias in its hiring process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2021-104

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.