Seattle Washington USA - Sound Transit Chief Executive Peter Rogoff is up for a double-digit raise, despite controversy over his "abrasive" and "dictatorial" leadership style.
 
The Sound Transit board has proposed boosting Rogoff's annual salary by 11 percent next year to US$364,000, said Sound Transit spokesperson Geoff Patrick.
 
The proposed raise comes less than a year after Rogoff was investigated for a management style some described as abrasive.
 
The investigation found he had used profanity with some staffers and made statements perceived as racist at a Black History Month event.
 
Rogoff later said his comments were taken out of context.
 
In September 2017, a female employee said he referred to her as "honey", something that "disregarded the depth and breadth of her experience and diminished her role," the report read.
 
More generally, employees complained of Rogoff's "East Coast" style of leadership, also describing it as "dictatorial and unnecessarily confrontational."
 
After the investigation Rogoff was denied a 2017 performance bonus worth as much as US$31,000 but allowed to keep a 5 percent cost-of-living increase that kicked in on 1 Jan 2018.
 
He has since undergone leadership coaching and apologized for some of his earlier remarks.
 
Corwin Haeck.