Water manager wore burqa as prank

Engineering manager George Briest, human resources manager Thomas Wood, operations manager Tom Kennedy and retired operations supervisor Eric Phillips posed with Kim Thorner, in the office in November 2009.

The top administrator of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District apologized this week for an incident at the office in which she wore a burqa as a disguise, intended as a prank on a subordinate.

Kimberly Thorner, general manager of the Encinitas-based public agency, said she dressed up in the all-covering dress worn by some Muslim women to pose as a job applicant to tease the agency’s director of operations.

Kimberly Thorner on the job at a filtration plant, in this U-T file photo. — Eduardo Contreras

(Eduardo Contreras)

The hoax took place five years ago, and a photo of four smiling staffers posing with Thorner in the burqa was sent to U-T Watchdog this month by someone who found it culturally insensitive.

Thorner apologized for any offense.

“Hindsight is 20/20, and I definitely would not do it again,” she said. “I also look at how the world has changed over the last few years. What I know now is different than what I knew five years ago. I sincerely apologize if I showed any disrespect.”

Thorner is paid more than $200,000 a year to manage the agency, which provides water to about 80,000 people from Carlsbad to 4S Ranch.

U-T Watchdog sought input from local leaders in the Muslim community, and received mixed reactions.

Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the San Diego Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, likened it to blackface, a theatrical makeup application used by nonblack performers beginning in the 19th century.

“First and foremost, this is a public agency. They are paid to serve all aspects of the public, not to mock a segment of it,” Mohebi said. “There are a lot of people that suffer because supervisors like her take these things lightly… You can be a practical joker, as long as it doesn’t harm others or mock others while you get tax dollars from us.

“That segment of the community is already under a lot of discrimination,” he said. “I know that many women who do wear the scarf have a hard time getting hired.”

Bahar Davary, associate professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego, said she doesn’t wear a veil, worn by some Muslim women for reasons of modesty or as a marker of their cultural and religious identity, but would advise against its use in a prank.

“I think to say the least, it’s culturally insensitive,” said Davary.

While Thorner’s prank was not intended as an exercise in sensitivity training, she said it became one after she encountered stares from some employees while sitting in the office lobby before her prank job interview.

“It was an excellent lesson in diversity in the end,” said Thorner. “Some people reacted by not making eye contact. Some people talked louder to me.”

She said she discussed the importance of diversity at the district’s next monthly staff leadership meeting, praising one employee for staying focused on her skill set during the interview.

Thorner said her attempt at humor began in November 2009 after the quick departure of a newly hired secretary for Tom Kennedy, the district’s director of operations,

Wanting to prank Kennedy, Thorner submitted the perfect application for the job under the name Samantha Grace.

When the fake applicant was selected for an interview, Thorner worked with her human resources manager on a ruse, purchasing a black burqa on eBay for $9.

“I thought, ‘How do I interview without him knowing it was me?’” said Thorner, who’s been employed by the district since 1996 and general manager since 2007. “I hid myself in a burqa.”

Thorner conducted the entire interview with a four-person panel of employees, all while pretending to be Grace. When she was asked, “Have you ever had a difficult employee?” she removed the head scarf and replied, “Yes, Tom Kennedy. I got you,” Thorner recalls saying.

The moment was captured on a hidden video camera Thorner had her technology staff place in the room. It has since been deleted, she said.

Thorner said the set-up was one of many pranks she has played on her employees over the years. On other occasions, she convinced park department employees they we were going to get horses instead of cars, and she replaced alarms in the plant with her own voice, she said.

Kennedy said Thorner’s antics usually keep things light around the office. On one occasion, Thorner decorated his office with Chargers memorabilia and painted a lightning bolt on the wall above his desk — knowing he is a Raiders fan.

A payment drop box at the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. — Ashly McGlone

Kennedy — who is preparing to take the top job at the Rainbow Municipal Water District — said he regrets posing for the smiling photo with his burqa-clad boss after the incident.

“It was probably taken within minutes of being pranked in a big way,” he said. “I had no involvement other than being the victim or prankee.”

Imam AbdelJalil Mezgouri who leads the Islamic Center of San Diego, the largest mosque in the county with 2,000 congregants, said, “Intention does not justify your action.”

“The hijab represents a religious symbol for the Muslim… If you want to make a joke, make a joke not at the expense of someone else,” Mezgouri said. “In the future we need to be sensitive to each other and our country is great because of all the diversity and plurality, and we need to maintain that and respect it and promote it.”

Khaleel Mohammed, professor of religious studies at San Diego State, considers himself a liberal in the community and did not take offense, but said, “If you were to ask 100 Muslims in the area, you would get 100 answers.”

“I would advise my employees against trying it, but personally I see nothing wrong with it and she turned it into a teachable moment,” Mohammed said. “One of the first laws of Islam is judging by intention. Her intention was not malicious.”

Mohebi said his organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, can provide cultural trainings, and that he would reach out to Thorner about providing one.

“Our organization is here to educate and also to provide any kind of service agencies may need,” he said.

Thorner told the U-T she would take him up on the offer.