Plaintiffs rested their case Monday afternoon in a sexual and racial harassment lawsuit against Alabama State University.
Three women who used to work for ASU allege that they were repeatedly subjected to racial slurs, being called “bitch,” comments about their bodies and inappropriate touching by Lavonnette Bartley, who is associate executive director in the office of Executive Vice President John Knight.
Lydia Burkhalter, one of the three plaintiffs, testified Monday morning that she was fired in retaliation for filing complaints about an ASU administrator she accuses of racial and sexual harassment.
She also testified Monday that she continued to worry about what might happen to her after she was fired, saying that she has received threats and was informed that she needed to be careful.
ASU trustee Herbert Young was the first witness called by the defense Monday, and his testimony contradicted testimony by Burkhalter and co-plaintiff Cynthia Williams, both of whom said they discussed with Young their problems with Bartley and their dismissals from ASU.
Young also contradicted testimony by Burkhalter claiming that Young had told her that she was the type Knight would be interested in romantically and that she could have avoided problems had she “laid on her back for John Knight.”
Courtesy of The Montgomery Advestiser.
