ATLANTA — A DeKalb County woman plans to sue the state for the way they closed an investigation, months after she reported a state worker exposed himself to her and a witness in the Georgia World Congress Center.
Mary Davis, 62, is a former contracted custodial worker who was assigned to GWCC last spring. Davis and a colleague told a representative for the state's human resources department that a maintenance man exposed himself to the pair during an auto show event they were working.
But Davis, her attorney and records recount the woman’s statement wasn’t taken by human resources professionals for weeks, and the man accused of exposing himself wasn’t disciplined until a month after the state received a June notice that Davis planned to sue for damages.
“I never would have made the statement if it wasn’t true,” Davis told Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr. “C’mon … this is a lot to take. It’s too much. It’s really too much.”
The alleged incident in March happened as Davis and her colleague cleaned around GWCC’s Building C. Davis told Carr the man approached the women and began a conversation before heading into the restroom.
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“He went over to the men’s bathroom and then he came back to the doorway and had his pants down and open,” Davis said.
We stopped the account there because the alleged exposure incident is too graphic to report.
“I said ‘Oh my God Margaret look at that’, and she said ‘Oh, what is he doing?’ I said I don’t know but I’m fittin’ to report it,” Davis said.
Records obtained by Channel 2’s partners at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution show Davis’s colleague corroborated her account of the incident in a written statement forwarded to HR, but it would be weeks before Davis was able to offer her statement.
“They did nothing, nothing at all,” she said.
“Nothing had been done, “ added Davis’s attorney, Charles Gernazian. “ Nothing was in the HR file by the time I’d gotten involved.”
In June, Gernazian sent the Georgia World Congress Center a notice of Davis’ intent to sue, citing half a million dollars in damages for the state’s inaction in the case and the emotional toll it all took on Davis, who was transferred to another work location shortly after the alleged incident.
Those records show the man admitted to having his pants unzipped, but denied the women’s allegations that he’d jubilantly exposed himself, citing what they’d seen as his finger.
In July, human resources wrote the man a written reprimand, told him to “adjust workplace behaviors that could be deemed inappropriate or offensive to others,” and the HR investigation cited inconsistencies, deeming the probe inconclusive.
“I have yet to be convinced there wasn’t videotape evidence,” Gernazian said. “Question number 2 - why wasn’t there a thorough investigation? Why wasn’t Ms. Davis after that initial statement ever interviewed?”
In a statement to Channel 2 Action News on Monday, GWCC Executive Director Frank Poe wrote:
"While the GWCCA does not comment on pending litigation, the GWCCA does take claims of sexual harassment very seriously. In this instance our Human Resources Department did investigate these claims as well as other appropriate state agencies. We deny and disagree with Ms. Davis' attorney characterizations of this alleged incident. "
Davis said the process in which the state responded to her claims ties back to why people are hesitant to file sexual harassment complaints.
“They don’t want to come forward cause ain’t nobody doin’ nothing about it,” she told Carr.” Taking the initiative to help them, to protect them, to guarantee their safety (from) this mess.”
An investigation by our partners at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that hundreds of sexual harassment complaints are filed by state workers but they rarely lead to conclusive findings. You can read the report here.
Gernazian is calling on the state attorney general to push for reform in how the claims are investigated.
“As an attorney, I’m concerned, and a citizen, I’m concerned,” he said. “The people of Georgia deserve better.”
Cox Media Group
