The New Orleans Commission has ordered the city council to rehire a store clerk who has been fired for alleged sexual harassment in the workplace.
A former Lora Johnson councillor was fired last year after being fired after New Orleans City Council determined that it had created a hostile environment for employees that included unnecessary inspiring, sleazy language and threatening allegations. According to nola.com.
However, after Johnson, who had worked for the city government for 35 years, refused the complaint and sued her for her dismissal, the committee rehired her last Monday, giving her a seal of approval to compensate for the salary she lost in her departure.
The Civil Service Committee, the Glorious Human Resources Department for the Government, has accepted previous findings that proved Johnson’s misconduct.
But the heart of their sign-off relies on city council decisions that Johnson may have caused – the committee believed it was clearly lacking.
According to the committee, Johnson should be revived because “the city council failed to carry the burden of showing that the accused conduct would undermine the efficient operation of the clerks of the council’s office.”
Such obstacles are necessary to justify termination under the Commission’s rules, but did not specify what decline justifies disciplinary action.
In the report, the committee was also named as affected employees who accused Johnson of sharing their full name. Up until then, the four suspects were only referred anonymously.
City Council President JP Morell was appalled by the committee’s decision and the unequal disregard for the harmed employees.
“This decision will have a calm impact on all victims considering whether to report workplace abuse. The City of New Orleans cannot insist on caring for sexual assault survivors while continuing to mess with serious allegations in the name of efficiency,” he wrote in a statement on April 16.
He further said the committee’s ruling would create a dangerous precedent, according to NOLA.com.
“By the logic of the Civil Service Committee, sexual harassment in the workplace is acceptable as long as it does not affect the overall job.”
However, the committee largely dismissed allegations that it was not serious enough to justify Johnson’s firing.
“None of the cases in question were so serious, so termination was appropriate and overall the conduct that lasted over a decade was not serious or extensive,” the committee wrote.
Johnson’s attorney denied the claim. The committee stated that the client “did not determine whether the sporadic emotionality of a colleague was intentional or contingent or accidental.”
“In this case there was no sexual harassment,” Brett Prendagast told the outlet.
