During the past year the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) has received at least three complaints from relatively high-ranking Cambridge city employees alleging racial discrimination.

In a complaint filed last March, Mary C. Wong, executive director of the Cambridge Kids' Council, says she was threatened with the prospect of an "intolerable" work life if she did not resign her post.

When Malvina Monteiro, executive director of the Cambridge Police Review and Advisory Board, asked for a raise after three years of satisfactory service, she claims her supervisor dodged her request for another three years.

Cambridge library administrator Marion Hampton claims she was twice the victim of petty physical assaults from her fellow employees-and her superiors were unresponsive to her complaints.

Is three a crowd? Wong, Monteiro and Hampton are all female, all minorities, and all say their grievances with city officials show a trend of discrimination that spans several years and disparate city departments.

The women originally filed their complaints separately, but last month the three consolidated their complaints, stating that "the disparate treatment each has confronted reflects a broader pattern and practice of race discrimination in the City's management of its own workforce."

The consolidated complaint--the latest confrontation in a rash of minor conflicts in the past year--is a driving force behind a move to address internal tensions in the city. Tomorrow evening, School Committee Vice Chair E. Denise Simmons and the city's Human Rights Commission will hold a forum on ending discrimination by race and class in Cambridge. A public hearing on race relations will follow next Monday's City Council meeting.

"The need for dialogue and discussion on the issue of race and class is very real, and it has to go beyond a particular issue," says Cambridge Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55.

Three's a Crowd

Of the six highest-ranking women of color in managerial authority in municipal government, three are suing, and another has recently resigned.

In addition to the consolidated complaint, last month saw the resignation of Gail Nordmoe, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Nordmoe, the highest-ranking person of color in the school administration, has said racial tensions had nothing to do with her decision to resign.

Nevertheless, some city employees say her resignation signals a broader dissatisfaction with the progress of diversity and tolerance in the city administration.

"We clearly provide a work environment in which people of color feel they are treated differently from others," says City Councilor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.

Monteiro, Hampton and Wong declined any further comment beyond their written statements, but their attorney Ellen J. Zucker, herself a longtime Cantabrigian, says she agrees with Reeves' assessment.

"It's not that people are walking around with Ku Klux Klan hats on--it's just that they're more comfortable working with people who look like them," Zucker says. "That's the nature of discrimination."

The city--affectionately dubbed the "People's Republic of Cambridge" by residents proud of their progressive politics--may seem an unlikely breeding ground for municipal discrimination. Zucker, however, suggests that the city's liberal image may have allowed a pattern of racism to go undetected.

"[T]here's a cultural disconnect. People think that [Cambridge] is a progressive town, but the progressive veneer has allowed a lot of inappropriate things to go on unnoticed," Zucker says. "Black folks who've lived in this town are not surprised that discrimination occurs. And the white liberals shouldn't be either."

Although MCAD associate director John Ahearn says he is not aware of a higher percentage of discrimination complaints coming from Cambridge than from other Commonwealth communities, city officials say there are some informal indicators of discontent.

"In general we could do a better job of diversifying the color of the faces at City Hall," admits City Councilor Katherine Triantafillou, adding that minority job fairs and diversity training would be a move in the right direction.

Few allege that the city is remiss in the hiring of minorities, suggesting that the real problem lies in creating an environment in which minority employees can thrive.

The municipal government is the city's largest employer, providing jobs for 10 percent of the Cambridge labor market, and many city officials admit that addressing diversity hiring and workplace atmosphere must be a priority.

The city's municipal workforce is 25 percent minority, nearly identical to the city's overall rate of 24.7 percent and significantly higher than Greater Boston's 13.9 percent. In addition, the city has met its goals in nearly all employment sectors. Administration, however, remains 3 points below the target rate of 16.3 percent.

Nelson Salazar, director of Concilio Hispano Cambridge, a non-governmental organization funded by a combination of state funds and private foundations, offered criticism of hiring practices in city government.

"The positions they've been hiring...minorities is for maintenance positions," Salazar says. "There's not much from the managerial perspective. Affirmative action has provided access for white women to top-level positions but done little for racial minorities."

But hiring underrepresented groups is only half the battle. Room for improvement, say some city officials, lies in retention of the minority employees once they're hired.

"The problem is, are they staying and are they being promoted to higher positions?" Triantafillou asks.

Last month's consolidated complaint indicates that some employees, at least, believe that mission has not been fulfilled.

The substance of last month's consolidated complaint is an alleged pattern of long-term workplace discrimination including imposing standards not imposed on white colleagues and denials of the autonomy, support and respect necessary to fulfill their positions.

Wong says she was "effectively demoted" whenasked to report to a more junior member of theCity Manager's office, then required to report tothree different white supervisors.

Meanwhile, her project--the North CambridgeCenter for Families--was denied further staffsupport.

In addition to the petty physical retaliationHampton says she suffered on the job, she says shereceived a surprising lack of support whendisciplining white employees and was monitoredmuch more excessively than were her whitecounterparts.

The City Manager

The focus of the three women's complaints is18-year city manager Robert W. Healy, head of theexecutive department in charge of overseeing themunicipal government.

"That's where it begins and ends," Zucker says.In the structure of the Cambridge city government,the city manager is a strong position, with afinger in every municipal pie.

Healy has received a lot of criticism from citycouncilors and local media in the past few years,alleging inappropriate hiring procedures,including filling positions without appropriatelyposting them, and failing to hire minorityapplicants in favor of white applicants whosequalifications were sometimes less impressive.

William A. Gomes, Equal Employment OpportunityOfficer from 1985 to 1998, accused Healy of racediscrimination as a witness for the three women'scomplaint.

"In my view, the management of the city ofCambridge, as an employer, has resisted treatingpeople of color equally," Gomes says in a writtenstatement. He says he found Healy "downrighthostile" when he brought up his concerns withhiring procedures.

In addition, he alleges that the city wasmisclassifying positions in its federally mandatedEqual Employment Opportunity reports in a way thatinflates the number of minorities considered to bemanagers.

Moreover, he says, the practice continues.

Healy denies any inappropriate behavior, citingthe last three managerial positions he hasfilled--all with racial minorities.

"I want to make it clear to all residents ofour community that, in no instance during myadministration has the City ever been found by anyagency or court to have discriminated againstanyone," Healy wrote in a statement