Atlanta City Council president addresses 911 bathroom break concerns

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - There is a bathroom controversy at the Atlanta City Hall. That may sound frivolous, but the president of the Atlanta City Council says it is not.

UPDATED: Supervisor replaced after Atlanta 911 call center controversy

Employees at the Emergency Communications Center presented a list of complaints to Felicia Moore. They described a hostile work environment that includes humiliating questions from supervisors when they ask to leave their stations for a restroom break. They said those supervisors want to maintain a full complement of workers with as few breaks as possible to "get numbers."

That is to show as small as possible the amount of time it takes for a call-taker to get to a phone and route a call.

Some workers told their union representative, a supervisor asked about bodily functions. "Do you have to do number 1 or number 2," one quoted a mid-level supervisor.

The wait grew so long on shifts that workers reportedly went to the bathroom in their seats.

Division Chief Scott Kreher, who is new in the position, says he will convene meetings with the workers and managers separately to try to find out what has been going on.

"I care about those workers," Kreher told FOX 5 News. "They play a critical role."