A former employee at the LSU medical school in Shreveport, who filed federal complaints against the chancellor of the medical school, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state district court claiming her job suspension was illegal after whistleblowing on sexual harassment claims, The Advocate reported.
Dr. Jennifer Woerner was one of the four women who filed complaints against Chancellor Ghali E. Ghali for allegedly retaliating against whistleblowers trying to raise concerns about the claims, according to The Advocate.
Woerner filed complaints April 13 with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and later with the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights after three medical students reported several sexual misconduct incidents.
LSU President Tom Galligan removed Ghali as chancellor quickly after the EEOC filing, but Ghali still saw patients and got paid. Ghali’s contract expires in December unless renewed by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
LSU reinstated Ghali as chancellor without restriction late Wednesday night. Ghali said in a statement that his administrative leave has ended after the results of the investigation.
Allison Jones, the attorney for the four women who filed the complaints, said the investigation must not have been properly conducted if Ghali was completely cleared and that the investigatory report should be released.
“Something is truly rotten in the State of Louisiana and LSU,” Jones said.
Woerner was put on administrative leave May 21 and wasn’t told who filed complaints against her or the terms of the allegations. Woerner was banned from campus and employees and students were told to contact the administration if Woerner tried to contact them. Ghali and another physician took over Woerner’s duties.
After Woerner and Jones named the leave “direct retaliation,” LSU Health-Shreveport said in the statement that they offer no comment.
The EEOC filings alleged that 16 medical students had reported being sexually harassed by an administrative faculty member and the dean of admissions: including requiring good-looking female applicants and students to write book reports on pornographic stories. Woerner and the other employees who students went to for help were constricted by Ghali in promotions and job duties.
Woerner highlighted in her lawsuit LSU bylaws that give solely the Board of Supervisors and the LSU System president authority to change work conditions of the faculty.
“Dr. Ghali directly benefited from Dr. Woerner being removed from her duties as tenured faculty and placed on administrative leave,” the lawsuit says.
First Judicial District Court Judge Craig Marcotte, of Shreveport, was assigned the case.
