BATON ROUGE, La.
Suspended Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter went to federal court Wednesday in an effort to save his job, and identified seven female university employees who complained about being sexually harassed by Southern Board Chairman Johnny Anderson last year.
Two of the women testified Wednesday that Anderson made unwanted sexual overtures to them. Internal auditor Linda Carr testified that Anderson asked her if she “needed a boyfriend” like him, and claimed that she may have lost a possible promotion because she turned him down.
A second alleged victim, alumni secretary Cynthia Robinson, testified that at one point Anderson tried to kiss her, but she turned her head. And at an alumni conference last summer, Robinson said Anderson complained that she wasn’t “giving him the attention” that he deserved.
The testimony came during a hearing to extend the temporary restraining order that U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson signed last week to prevent the Southern University Board of Supervisors from firing Slaughter, who has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the board and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Blanco appointed the board members and hired Anderson as her assistant chief of staff three and a half years ago.
Attorneys for the board repeatedly tried to convince the judge to block testimony about Anderson’s alleged sexual harassment, claiming that the focus of the hearing should have been on Slaughter.
