County could pay $24,000 in Lee Holloway sexual harassment case
By Steve Schultze, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The payment would end the case brought by a county pension counselor. She filed state and federal harassment claims against Holloway in February, claiming he forcibly kissed and groped her when she went to his courthouse office to discuss his retirement paperwork.
She said the incident happened on
No criminal charges have been filed in the case, according to online court records. However, the Equal Rights Division "found probable cause to believe that the (federal discrimination) law was violated and ordered a hearing," according to a memo to the
Settlement talks began as lawyers for Holloway and the county began preparing for a hearing before an administrative judge on the noncriminal discrimination complaint, Grady said.
Holloway kissed the woman, stuck his tongue in her mouth, "grabbed her breast and grabbed her buttocks," the equal rights complaint says. The woman "directed Holloway to stop touching her immediately," her complaint says.
"You're so pretty -- you can't blame a man," the woman says Holloway told her, after she pushed him away and told him to stop. That detail emerged in the search warrant records.
Holloway, who has denied the allegations, did not return phone calls.
He told investigators the allegations were likely motivated by someone "hard up for money" and planning to sue him.
The settlement was urged by Grady, who noted in a memo to county supervisors that the woman has threatened to file a lawsuit in federal court claiming damages for emotional distress and medical expenses.
The woman would get
The settlement sum would be applied against the deductible amount under the county's liability insurance, Grady said in a memo to the
The Holloway settlement is up for consideration Thursday by the board's judiciary committee.
Supervisor
"As much as I feel bad for the employee, I just don't think we should pay it," Borkowski said.
"I just don't think it's proper for the taxpayers to have to pay for this," he said. "It's (Holloway's) responsibility, it's his behavior, as grossly inappropriate as it was, and he's the one that should be liable."
Supervisor
The judiciary panel also will consider a recommendation that the county pay a total of
Clarke said the layoffs were due to budget cuts. Three of the captains won decisions by the county civil service commission overturning their layoffs, saying the sheriff failed to state valid reasons for the dismissals.
McKenzie said in 2012 that Clarke tried to lay off the captains because they had fallen into disfavor with him and not for any performance problem.
Twitter: twitter.com/SteveSchultzeJS
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