Washington County tackles harassment complaint
FAYETTEVILLE — One Washington County Road Department employee has resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment allegation the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating.
Office manager Brandy Butler filed a federal complaint against the county earlier this year after she said the county failed to maintain stipulations meant to prevent sexual harassment at the Road Department.
Butler told County Attorney Brian Lester and Human Resources Director Michael Watson this past summer Assistant Superintendent Brad Phillips sexually harassed her, she said. Watson did not respond to questions sent to him and Lester via email Wednesday.
“I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” Butler said. “I think if you voice it now,
and it gets out there, people will be less likely” to sexually harass others, she said.
Butler said Lester took part in the internal investigation of her claim. Stipulations to protect her were put in place, followed for a while, then quietly dropped, she said. Butler said she didn’t want to discuss the stipulations or specific allegations against Phillips.
Lester did not answer a question about specific policies put in place to protect Butler. He said County Judge Joseph Wood had cameras added in the Road Department “to ensure the safety of all employees.” Wood oversees the Road Department.
County employees are required to attend training concerning sexual harassment when they are hired, Lester said.
Lester said any new policies Wood puts in place are followed. Wood takes sexual harassment allegations seriously, he added.
Phillips resigned near the end of January, Butler said. Lester said in an email that Phillips resigned verbally and did not leave a resignation letter. Phillips did not respond to a message sent via a social media messaging platform.
The county would not release information about Butler’s complaint nor any reprimand for Phillips. Lester said the case is open and cited a personnel exemption to the open-records law for why he didn’t release the information.
“Taxpayers should be concerned if the county is handling claims against the county improperly,” Lester said in an email. “However, complaints are handled appropriately by Judge Wood’s administration.”
Butler’s case is the only known Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against Washington County, according to the Association of Arkansas Counties.
Washington County typically investigates sexual harassment claims internally, said Jason Owens, an attorney with Rainwater, Holt and Sexton, the law firm that represents the county via the association. The association was notified about Butler’s complaint March 2, said Brandy McAllister, counsel for the association.
A spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission did not return a message left Thursday. The agency does not release information about complaints except to the person who filed the complaint, according to its website.
The case is in the initial phase, McAllister said.
At least three other county employees have been reprimanded or fired over sexual harassment issues since 2016, according to county records Lester provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request March 27.
Employees were fired who worked at the Juvenile Detention Center, circuit clerk’s office and juvenile court.
Juvenile Detention Center Director Jean E. Mack referred questions to Lester. Wood oversees the center.
Circuit Clerk Kyle Sylvester confirmed the employee who worked in his office June to November 2016 was fired, but would not say why.
A message for Washington County Circuit Judge Stacey Zimmerman, who oversees the juvenile court, was not returned Friday. The immediate supervisor of the fired employee at the court did not return a message left Friday.
Lester said in an email he and Wood know about other sexual harassment complaints but could not find written reports. He said there are no records of settlements made by the county in connection with sexual harassment since 2016.
No known lawsuits linked to sexual harassment have been filed during that time, Owens said.
The records do not include the sheriff’s office, whose employees are overseen by Sheriff Tim Helder. Spokesman Kelly Cantrell did not return an email or voice message Friday seeking information about any possible sexual harassment claims in that department.