Alex Jahangir (left) and Michael Caldwell
Metro Health Director Michael Caldwell resigned Thursday following a report detailing allegations of gender and pregnancy discrimination.
Caldwell offered his resignation as the Metro Board of Health was considering terminating him during a Thursday night meeting. Earlier in the day, a majority of Metro councilmembers signed a letter calling for Caldwell’s ouster.
“I worry that without a clean slate we cannot regain the trust of the women in our department,” said board chair Alex Jahangir, who also leads the city’s COVID-19 task force.
The investigation was triggered by complaints from Metro Health bureau director Rachel Franklin and city epidemiologist Leslie Waller.
According to the report, Cladwell sought to terminate Franklin after an “animated” phone call in May regarding the distribution of free masks from the state. Franklin requested Caldwell’s presence at the health department to help, but he didn’t leave his post at the office of emergency management.
“We need you here,” said Franklin. “We have things that happen every day that you are not here for, and we need you here.”
Caldwell reportedly said, “You have offended me, you have offended me in what you’re saying.”
The following day Caldwell spoke with the health department’s human resources director about firing Franklin and said, “You know she is pregnant, and I wonder if that isn’t impacting her emotional stability."
“Michael, I’m not your attorney, but if I were you, I would never utter those words again because that’s a violation of [federal discrimination laws],” replied the human resources director.
Witnesses interviewed also said that Caldwell’s reorganizing of the department seemed designed to demote women, or at least punish those who challenged him.
During the board meeting, Caldwell acknowledged that he “acted with unconscious bias against women” and that the report’s “findings have shaken me to my core.”
He offered to undertake management and bias training courses, but the board members deemed that insufficient.
“If Dr. Caldwell were to remain in this position, what type of message would we be sending to our sons and daughters?” asked board vice chair Tené Franklin.
Caldwell came to Metro from New York in March, days before the city recorded its first COVID-19 case. As the disease spread, his role took on unprecedented prominence.
Earlier this year, he clashed with members of the Metro Council and others as he sought to defend the practice of sharing COVID-19 information with law enforcement agencies, a move immigrant advocates said put people at risk.
Caldwell’s resignation is effective immediately, but he is staying on in an advisory capacity through the end of the month. The board is meeting for a retreat Friday, at which members said they would discuss the leadership transition.
