Well, it seems that life in a small, respectable city in the buckle of the Bible Belt grants no guarantees. Of course, I've known all along that people are people regardless of where they set up shop and that those who think they have power never change their M.O.Remember Oklahoma judge Donald Thompson, who got caught using a sexual device under his robes while hearing cases in the courtroom? Well, we have another winner, this time here in Stillwater.
Mayor Roger McMillian is being sued for sexual harassment by three of his employees at the Stillwater branch of The Bank, N.A., stating that he was guilty of creating a sexually-charged workplace and hostile work environment, and that “it was necessary for women to grant sexual favors to McMillian for professional advancement.”...
In the court documents (which I have right here in my hands, thanks to Nettl, who brought them home from work -- yes, they're public documents) the plaintiffs’ allegations state that McMillian:
- Frequently permitted sexually-explicit emails to be sent to bank employees;
- Joked that he needed to put the EEOC phone number on the wall so that his employees could report his behavior;
- Would often describe the quality of female customers’ and applicants’ figures, using derogatory and sexually-explicit slurs and jokes. He would walk down to Executive Vice President and Chief Banking Officer Mike Stewart's office and say, "You need to go look at what is standing in the teller line";
- Placed his hand on a female employee’s thigh and said he was measuring how short her skirt was;
- Frequently encouraged employees to have a naked swimming party;
- Frequently joked with a female employee about exchanging sexual favors;
- Often, in officer's meetings, said, "I couldn't be happier except for Julia Roberts walking through my office naked -- and you know how happy that would make me";
- Made jokes about a female employee's "taco";
- Kept asking an employee more and more questions about her friend whom she called a "whore" as though he would be interested in being with her;
- Agreed to grant an employee a favor if she would wear a short skirt the next day;
- Stood at his office door holding a tennis ball. An employee had a customer in her office taking a loan application. McMillian made a comment about the employee "wanting his ball";
- Retained local attorney Kieran Maye to give sexual harassment seminars to the employees, after which Maye told the employees that if they ever thought about bringing a claim against The Bank, he would "be all over them like ugly on ape and would make their lives very uncomfortable." After the seminar, the employees were discussing how a person may "perceive" harassment. Maye and McMillian were making jokes about the training and were discussing that they would be able to do anything they wanted as long as it wasn't perceived wrong. McMillian stood up on a customer chair, danced and shook his backside at the employees and said, "So how do you perceive this?";
- Called the employees into his office and in a shouting voice threatened them that if they ever said anything about what was going on in the Stillwater branch to the main office, he would have their "fucking keys by the end of the day."
Here's what puzzles me:
- What are these men thinking? Do men in politics think they're immune?
- How the hell can a Hyper Wank Device that looks like an ear of corn prevent sexual harassment?
