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Winston-Salem Investigating Discrimination Claim

A discrimination claim has prompted an investigation within the City of Winston-Salem's Finance Department over the promotion of black employees.

The investigation began after an unsigned letter was sent to the city council, claiming that black employees are being denied the ability to rise to higher management positions in the finance department.

The city has responded by releasing a spreadsheet breaking down its workforce.

Lisa Saunders is the city's chief financial officer. Saunders tells the Winston-Salem Journal that she's meeting with her employees without supervisors present, in hopes they'll speak freely.

Saunders will then report back to the council.

Council member Vivian Burke didn't respond directly to the letter at Monday's finance committee meeting, but she did say she was bothered that some departments aren't being fair.

Burke says the council wants to hear from Saunders before taking the next step.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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