Arnold Park Director's Lawyer Files Second Complaint With State
A charge of discrimination was filed on Dec. 20 with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Susie Boone in regard to a hostile work environment.
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A second complaint has been filed with the state in regard to Arnold Parks and Recreation Director Susie Boone's claim that she was harassed by a councilman for more than two years.
Boone's attorney, Joan Swartz, told Patch she had filed the new complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on Dec. 20. At the end of September, Boone filed a complaint with the commission, but she said the agency responded that it couldn't do anything because it was not within its realm.
"That's commonly what they (commission members) do when a complaint is filed," Swartz said. "You just have to resubmit it or send it to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We haven't heard back from the commission yet."
Swartz said complaint she recently filed contains the same information that was included in Boone's original complaint. She added that the incidents referred to in the complaints are outlined in the city's recently released independent investigation.
"We filed the complaint in hopes of seeking some kind of justice for Susie Boone," Swartz said.
Patch requested copies of the complaints from Swartz, who said she would need permission from Boone to release the documents. Patch did not hear back from Swartz on Wednesday.
In October, Boone went public alleging Ward 4 Councilman Ken Moss had harassed her for more than two years after his sister was fired from the Parks Department. At that time, Boone referred Patch to City Attorney Bob Sweeney for all questions regarding the issue.
When Patch spoke with Boone on Wednesday, she referred us to Swartz. Swartz said she could not disclose when she was retained by Boone.
Moss denies Boone's allegations. See related article: Ken Moss: "I Didn't Do Anything."
The council has three options regarding the complaint: it could do nothing; it could censure Moss, which is essentially a warning; or it could vote to draft a bill of impeachment against Moss.
The City Council meets tonight at 7 p.m.
See previous articles:
Doris Borgelt
10:01 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
This is directly from the EEOC site:
Filing A Charge of Discrimination
If you believe that you have been discriminated against at work because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information, you can file a Charge of Discrimination. All of the laws enforced by EEOC, except for the Equal Pay Act, require you to file a Charge of Discrimination with us before you can file a job discrimination lawsuit against your employer. In addition, an individual, organization, or agency may file a charge on behalf of another person in order to protect the aggrieved person's identity. There are time limits for filing a charge.
If you file a charge, you may be asked to try to settle the dispute through mediation. Mediation is an informal and confidential way to resolve disputes with the help of a neutral mediator. If the case is not sent to mediation, or if mediation doesn't resolve the problem, the charge will be given to an investigator.
Doris Borgelt
10:01 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
If an investigation finds no violation of the law, you will be given a Notice of Right to Sue. This notice gives you permission to file suit in a court of law. If a violation is found, we will attempt to reach a voluntary settlement with the employer. If we cannot reach a settlement, your case will be referred to our legal staff (or the Department of Justice in certain cases), who will decide whether or not the agency should file a lawsuit. If we decide not to file a lawsuit, we will give you a Notice of Right to Sue.
In some cases, if a charge appears to have little chance of success, or if it is something that we don't have the authority to investigate, we may dismiss the charge without doing an investigation or offering mediation.
Many states and local jurisdictions have their own anti-discrimination laws, and agencies responsible for enforcing those laws (Fair Employment Practices Agencies, or FEPAs). If you file a charge with a FEPA, it will automatically be "dual-filed" with EEOC if federal laws apply. You do not need to file with both agencies.
Here is a link to their website: http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/charge.cfm
Shelley
4:17 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
How cute. Doris is playing lawyer again.
Matt Hay
5:13 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
What ever happened to the Patch's policy of requiring first and last names be included in comments? I am rather sure that Michael guy froze my account because my screen name was Matt H or something ridiculous like that.
Matt Hay
5:13 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Well, if the City listened to her, our legal expenses would be much less than they are. In fact, I am rather sure she historically has been more correct than the current, cracker jack, top of his night school class City Attorney. At least she has a current copy of Robert's Rules of Order, which is much more than I can say for Mr. Sweeney, who has yet to produce an edition which allows an absent member of the body to call a measure for reconsideration.
Jack D
6:04 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
How cute. Matt is playing Arnold resident again.
Shelley
7:47 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Bwahaha!
Matt Hay
10:26 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
I still own property in Arnold, as well as pay taxes in Arnold. If you would like to grant me dispensation for that, I would gladly accept it. Otherwise, I have as much, if not more stake in the corruption that permeates the politics in Arnold as you do.