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Ex-assistant town clerk takes complaint to EEOC

Redington Beach will have to decide whether to opt for mediation - and may face another complaint by the man accused of harassment.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published August 21, 2005

REDINGTON BEACH - Earlier this summer, town commissioners refused to investigate complaints of alleged sexual harassment involving former Town Clerk Larry Bittner.

Now they may be forced to do so.

Former Assistant Town Clerk Nancy Eigenhouse has filed a formal complaint against the town with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The town has until Sept. 8 to notify the EEOC whether it will participate in the agency's voluntary mediation program.

If it does not, the EEOC may conduct a formal investigation and could levy substantial fines. Nationwide in 2003, the EEOC directly recovered $37.1-million in monetary benefits for complainants.

At issue here are charges that Bittner discriminated against Eigenhouse by asking her to open e-mails while he was on vacation. "He told me that there would be pornographic e-mails he received and "not to worry about that' ... I was forced to open his e-mail and view a great deal of explicit gay pornography," Eigenhouse said in her complaint.

She said she complained repeatedly to then-Commissioner Tim Gregson and was told, "Bittner has been receiving such pornography for around three years and people were scared to complain."

Eigenhouse says that after Bittner later met with Mayor Bob Fountaine about her complaints, he "engaged in a pattern of retaliatory conduct." She said Bittner yelled at her "for no reason," criticized her job performance, "glared angrily at me" and treated her "as an outcast."

She said she was "forced" to resign because of Bittner's "retaliatory actions and because I was scared that he would physically harm me."

Bittner has vehemently denied Eigenhouse's charges and voluntarily resigned last month.

During Tuesday's discussion of Eigenhouse's EEOC complaint, commissioners repeatedly were warned by their attorney, Dominic Amadio, not to talk openly about the case or discuss it directly with Eigenhouse.

"My recommendation to all of you is not to discuss this," Amadio said. "It's the town that is the defendant, not individuals. It could be very damaging for us to discuss this. It's got nothing to do with who to point the finger at - the town is the one who would pay if found liable."

Despite Amadio's warnings, the commission continued to talk.

Commissioner Leslie Peck-Epstein, who called unsuccessfully for a full investigation of Eigenhouse's charges right after she resigned in June, stressed that she has "several questions about how this was handled."

Sam Maniotes wanted to know if the town's incoming e-mails had been "audited."

Commissioner Alberto Baraybar wanted to speak directly to Eigenhouse, who was sitting in the audience.

At one point, Eigenhouse tried to hand commissioners copies of the alleged pornographic e-mails sent to Bittner. They said they didn't want to see them, so she handed them to newly appointed Town Clerk Beverly Brown instead.

After repeatedly telling the commission, "It's very dangerous to discuss this," Amadio said he would ask the Florida League of Cities if the commission could discuss the complaints in private.

In any event, the commission will have to meet again to decide whether to opt for a mediated resolution of Eigenhouse's complaints. Her effort to seek unemployment compensation, based largely on the same complaints, was rejected this month.

Meanwhile, the commission again refused Tuesday to consider a request from Bittner for unemployment compensation for health insurance the town did not pay when he was first employed four years ago.

Last month, Bittner demanded that the town pay him more than $11,000 in severance in exchange for releasing the town from any liability or damages related to his employment.

Bittner has contacted a labor lawyer and is considering filing his own EEOC complaint against the town.

It is not clear, however, whether the EEOC or any state or county investigative body would have jurisdiction over the town. Redington Beach has four employees. Federal and state discrimination laws apply only to employers that have 15 or more employees. Pinellas County codes apply to employers with as few as five employees.

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:50:20]