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A former employee's suit claims Asian FACE director Bun Hap Prak forcibly kissed her.
By J. NEALY-BROWN
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 19, 2001
CLEARWATER -- The longtime leader of a social service agency for Asians is being sued by a former employee, who accuses him of sexual harassment.
Bun Hap Prak, executive director of the Asian Family and Community Empowerment Center Inc., is accused of forcibly kissing a program service coordinator, Linda Ly.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, Ly said that Prak made unwanted advances between May 1999 and January 2000. He massaged her neck and shoulders, asked her questions about her personal life and forcibly kissed her. The agency also is named as a defendant in the suit. She is suing on the grounds of assault and battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
Ly, who is Cambodian, filed a police report in January 2000, accusing Prak of putting his hands on her.
"She had to leave that job, which she needed, because of fear of her safety," said Diane Bailey, Ly's attorney.
Prosecutors did not file charges.
Prak declined to comment on Friday, but he previously told police he was simply consoling Ly because she was upset over thoughts about marriage.
Both Ly and Prak told police they thought of each other as having a niece-uncle relationship. Prak told investigators he kissed Ly on the nose and gave her a hug to help calm her down.
But Ly told investigators it was much more than that. She filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which ruled that Ly's allegations have merit. Prak was inconsistent and not credible, although he denied any inappropriate conduct, according to federal investigators. The EEOC also believed Ly's complaint that Prak had created a hostile work environment.
The lawsuit is the latest in a batch of troubles for the Asian center. This year, the agency lost its main source of money and five staffers to another agency.
In February, the Juvenile Welfare Board, which gave FACE most of its money, yanked FACE's control of one of its major programs and gave the duties to Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services. The Welfare Board said fiscal mismanagement had gone on too long.
Earlier this month, the Welfare Board made another move that further diminished the presence of FACE when it voted to help move the Gulf Coast-run services out of the FACE center at 2201 First Ave. N.
The new location, Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N, is set to become a key center for Asian social services.