The large glass door of the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), on the 20th floor of Miraflores 222, currently has a series of posters pasted with messages such as “People do matter to me” and “A safe work environment.” It is a right”, along with a list of behaviors that will be crimes under the Karin Law. This Wednesday, the association of distribution officials will hold demonstrations.
On March 20, five SEA workers denounced the lawyer and head of the Environmental Assessment and Citizen Participation Division, Juan Cristóbal Moscoso, for “labor abuse, persecution and harassment.” The environmental evaluators Camila Sepúlveda, Lu Contreras, Diego Trecaman, Gonzalo Jiménez and Camila Ramírez sought to expose these behaviors within the key organization in the processing of investment projects. The SEA is led by lawyer Valentina Durán, appointed under the administration of President Boric.
That complaint was the first sign of the discontent of the service workers. Subsequently, on May 28, one of the heads of the department in which Moscoso works, the geographer of the University of Chile Jimena Hevia, filed a lawsuit for labor protection against the SEA and demanded compensation of $107 million, alleging “systematic mistreatment ” and a “toxic work environment.” Her action is similar to the internal complaint filed by environmental evaluators, who accused Moscoso of imposing a “work culture based on abuse.”
Eight days after the initial complaint, the director of the entity, Valentina Durán, sent a mass email to officials confirming receipt of the complaint and ensuring that it was being channeled through the corresponding institutional channel. Currently the investigation is in charge of two external prosecutors to guarantee impartiality: the complaint of the five evaluators is in charge of the director of Sernageomin, Patricio Aguilera, and Hevia’s complaint is being investigated by the director of Inapi, Loreto Bresky.
“I urgently call on all officials, without exception, to allow this situation to be channeled through the formal procedure, aimed at taking care of the dignity and rights of the complaining officials, as well as the reported officials, witnesses and other people eventually mentioned and exposed, with strict adherence to the code of ethics and the regulations that govern us,” Durán wrote in his email.
Juan Cristóbal Moscoso, the accused, declined to respond to questions from Pulso La Tercera. The only time he referred to the complaints against him occurred on April 22 when, within the framework of the Third Meeting of the Escazú Agreement at ECLAC, he said in his speech: “My doors have always been open and I am always available for communication. We have the open channels of the Evaluation Assistance Department, which is the regular channel to properly channel concerns and demands. For me, the issue of the work environment is fundamental. Many of the current situations, at least for us in the environmental and citizen division, could have been resolved with good dialogue and sitting at the table. No one has slammed the door on me, no one has written me a letter, and I haven’t had a chance to respond.”
“I am grateful that the regular conduct is respected, and in that instance I will defend my position and demonstrate my innocence, respecting all the principles of impartiality and deference that must exist in a procedure. I ask that if anyone has any questions or wants to talk about something, they ask me directly. Rumors harm the service and damage the communication culture. The channels remain open and the work environment is essential. When I was a director at CNTE, I established the work environment indicator as a requirement because I believe it is important. I invite you to continue working in a collaborative environment. The doors will always be open for transversal and direct dialogue.”
The SEA explained to Pulso La Tercera that “there are two summary investigations underway, which are in full process, which are being carried out by prosecutors from other public institutions, in order to provide guarantees to all the parties involved and whose results we hope to have soon. As a Service we do not accept or endorse behavior that affects people’s dignity. The commitment and obligation of the management of the Service is to take care of all officials, promoting an organizational culture of full respect for the dignity and good treatment of people, and to strictly comply with the procedures that regulate us to address such serious and delicate situations. how are you doing”.
Meanwhile, Inapi indicated that the status of the summary is reserved in accordance with the Administrative Statute. Therefore, the director of that entity, as prosecutor of the case, cannot issue statements.
On May 3, the director of the SEA responded to a transparency request presented by Luis Carrillo, leader of ANFUSEA, regarding the number of resignations, medical licenses and cases referred to the Chilean Security Association (ACHS) since 2022. In the letter, He detailed that between 2020 and April 2024 there were 161 resignations, broken down into 103 women and 58 men. In the same period, 1,489 medical licenses were registered, with 416 corresponding to women and 1,073 to men. Additionally, she reported 48 cases referred to ACHS from 2022 to April 2024, with 36 in women and 12 in men. The letter clarifies that the data includes officials under different contracting modalities and excludes those with Senior Public Management appointments.
The six complainants declined to comment on this article.
