BATON ROUGE, La.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson granted a injunction Thursday to prevent the Southern University Board of Supervisors from firing Southern University President Ralph Slaughter until his lawsuit against the board can be tried.
Slaughter had filed a lawsuit claiming that he was a whistleblower who was targeted for termination because he tried to protect several female employees from sexual harassment by Southern Board Chairman Johnny Anderson, who is also the governor’s assistant chief of staff.
The ruling clears the way for Slaughter to return to work as president of the nation’s largest historically Black university system after a two-month paid suspension.
The judge had granted a temporary restraining order last month when the board called an emergency meeting to discuss Slaughter’s employment.
Slaughter’s lawsuit against the Southern Board and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco alleged that Anderson sexually harassed nine female university employees, including two who testified during the five-day hearing.
One of the alleged victims, internal auditor Linda Carr, testified that Anderson asked her if she “needed a boyfriend like me.” Carr’s supervisor also testified that Anderson had instructed her not to consider Carr for a promotion after the incident.
Southern Alumni secretary Cynthia Robinson, testified that Anderson once tried to kiss her, but she turned her head away. And Robinson said Anderson approached her at an alumni conference last summer and said she wasn’t “giving him the attention” that he deserved.
