County office allergy complaint raises personnel tension during commissioners’ meeting

During the April 20 meeting an employee told the commissioners she was having a breathing reaction to a coworker’s perfume and asked that staff close the window or allow her to go home. The employee said she had raised the issue previously and that the situation left her coughing and unable to work comfortably. She said she asked multiple times: “Can you please close the window?”

The chair responded that the office has an established expectation to avoid wearing perfume because multiple staff have allergies, and said the employee could go home to change or take a personal day if needed. The chair also said repeated incidents would be recorded: “She will be written up for it in my books if choice to repeatedly violate office guidance,” the chair said.

Commissioners and staff discussed how the county handles such complaints and asked for a documented policy in the personnel handbook; the clerk said a revised handbook was being finalized and encouraged staff to follow the policy and reasonable accommodations where possible. The meeting record shows the issue was treated as a personnel/health matter rather than a formal disciplinary action at this time.

Next steps: HR and the clerk will confirm and circulate the written policy language and, if necessary, the employee and supervisor will follow the county complaint/discipline procedure. The commission recorded the concern for follow up but took no independent adjudicative action during the meeting.