KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The business owner who filed a complaint that sparked the Federal Aviation Administration to put the Kansas City Aviation Department on notice is speaking out.
"What I hope to gain from this is that some roads are paved so this doesn't happen to women, minorities in the future," said Lisa Garney, who owns G2 Construction in Kansas City.
Ahead of construction of the new KCI terminal, Garney's company was set to lay the concrete at the airport, but then got pushed out of the bid.
"They said some things that were quite offensive to women in their reasoning for why they weren't keeping us on the team," Garney said.
At the time, the move raised eyebrows among some council members.
"I have never seen a council intervene in a sealed bid. This is the first time. I knew we were going to be in trouble when this started happening and sure enough here, we are," 2nd District-at-Large Councilmember Teresa Loar told KSHB 41 News in September 2020.
Garney brought the issue to the attention of the FAA's Office of Civil Rights who sent a letter to the director of the Kansas City Aviation Department this week.
In the letter, the FAA found the city's aviation department failed to report discrimination complaints, didn't keep records on the participation of women and minorities, and wasn't transparent or accountable for the inclusion of women and minorities.
"Because involvement and inclusion, at any level, in any capacity, is only as good as people are held accountable to do it if they're not doing it on their own," Garney said.
The FAA gave the city 30 days to submit a plan on how they plan to correct the alleged violations.
In a statement, a city spokesperson wrote they're in the process of implementing the necessary changes and that "complaints and investigations of this nature are not uncommon and we are continuously working to ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal rules and regulations."
"For the sake of our city, we're only as good as all our players. And everyone needs to be included and move forward, and to the extent that we follow the rules, provide as many opportunities as possible," Garney said.
