White accused of sexual advances

The Hillsborough commissioner's ex-aide files a claim.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published November 14, 2007

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TAMPA - A former aide to Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White says she was fired last week for refusing his repeated sexual advances.

The aide, Alyssa L. Ogden, who just turned 23 and worked with White for seven months, filed a sexual discrimination claim Tuesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office in Tampa.

During an interview with her parents present, Ogden said the overtures began within days of her taking the job, when she said White, 42, took her on a trip to Atlanta. There, she said, White took her to dinner with friends and later asked to share a hotel bed with her.

Ogden said the advances continued in the form of requests for kisses during private moments at County Center and promises of career success if she would relent to his sexual appeals.

"It was all the time," she said.

White, reached after business hours Tuesday, said he would not comment about the allegations until he sees the actual complaint, and that he wants to consult County Attorney Renee Lee.

He did confirm that he fired Ogden on Friday.

"Put it this way, it was well documented why she was released," White said. "It was very well documented why she was released."

In her complaint to the EEOC, Ogden said she was told by White that he was dismissing her because her work ethic was not high enough.

White is married with two children.

Ogden was not able to provide independent verification of her allegations, and the EEOC office was closed by the time the interview with Ogden ended. She did give the St. Petersburg Times a copy of her EEOC "charge of discrimination," which summarizes her complaint.

Bill Varian can be reached at varian@sptimes.com or 813 226-3387.