{"id":197235,"date":"2026-03-19T01:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197235\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T01:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T01:31:07","slug":"jea-launches-independent-review-after-recent-allegations-about-toxic-workplace-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197235\/","title":{"rendered":"JEA launches independent review after recent allegations about toxic workplace culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 JEA said it is launching an independent review and an employee engagement survey after recent allegations about workplace culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The utility said the move is meant to help ensure a safe, respectful, and productive workplace for all employees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JEA hired outside employment law firm Jackson Lewis to coordinate the review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Jackson Lewis will retain Cherie Silberman, an employment law attorney and workplace investigator based in Tampa, to conduct the assessment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/21\/timeline-how-big-favor-texts-sparked-a-jea-board-shakeup-and-allegations-about-utility-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/21\/timeline-how-big-favor-texts-sparked-a-jea-board-shakeup-and-allegations-about-utility-leadership\/\">Timeline: How \u2018big favor\u2019 texts sparked a JEA board shakeup and allegations about utility leadership<\/a> |<a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/18\/council-president-tells-jea-board-member-hes-replacing-him-because-he-owed-a-big-favor-to-his-boss-texts-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/18\/council-president-tells-jea-board-member-hes-replacing-him-because-he-owed-a-big-favor-to-his-boss-texts-show\/\">Council president tells JEA board member he\u2019s replacing him because he owed a \u2018big favor\u2019 to his boss, texts show<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JEA said Silberman has no prior relationship with the utility, which the company said preserves independence and impartiality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The review is expected to begin in early April. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Silberman will look at JEA\u2019s employment policies, interview leaders and staff, and take any other steps needed for a thorough, objective assessment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">No JEA employee, including members of management, will take part in or influence the investigation beyond administrative tasks such as scheduling and providing documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Separately, JEA will run an employee engagement survey administered by Energage in mid- to late-April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI\u2019m very pleased with JEA\u2019s decision to initiate an independent third-party review, with protections for employee anonymity and a commitment to transparency. JEA is the body ultimately responsible for its employees, and this is the right process. With it underway, we should avoid duplicative efforts and unnecessary taxpayer expense by supporting a single, credible path forward to get to the facts,\u201d Councilman Matt Carlucci said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JEA said the results of both the independent review and the employee survey will go directly to the JEA Board of Directors.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 JEA said it is launching an independent review and an employee engagement survey after recent&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,116,118,117,501,5896],"class_list":["post-197235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-duval-county","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jea","tag-kevin-carrico"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}