Your Dues Dollars at Work
The Anchorage Press reports that NEA-Alaska is shelling out an additional $170,000 in a settlement due to charges against former executive director Thomas Harvey. Long-time EIA readers may recall that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in 2005 on behalf of three NEA-Alaska employees who claimed Harvey had harassed them. The subsequent ruling was precedent-setting because the court determined sexual harassment in the workplace did not have to have sexual content.
NEA and NEA-Alaska settled the case for $750,000 in 2006 without admitting wrongdoing, and Harvey resigned. EEOC attorney Carmen Flores said this second settlement is on behalf of four employees who accused Harvey of intimidating them while the first lawsuit was being litigated.
“This stuff was happening, even while we were trying to resolve the first case,” she said.
NEA-Alaska President Barb Angaiak said NEA and NEA-Alaska shared the costs of both settlements. She declined to say how much of the settlement was NEA-Alaska. “The only thing I can share with you is that it is a shared cost,” she said.
