Fired CNE Female Employee Claims Johnson Made Sexual Overtures To Her

  • Thursday, December 13, 2012

A former employee of Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise who was fired is suing the agency for $5 million, claiming that former president David Johnson made sexual overtures to her.

Mignon Turner lodged the 12-page complaint in Circuit Court. It also names Mr. Johnson, who recently retired from CNE, as a defendant.

Ms. Turner, who is 40 and a single mother, said she worked for CNE previously and returned on July 28, 2008, shortly before Mr. Johnson was hired as president.

She said in May of 2009, she went to a NeighborWorks training session in Phoenix and Mr. Johnson was also on the trip. She said one day on the trip he directed those in training to meet him at a bar. She said when she tried to leave the bar, Mr. Johnson pressed up against her and kissed her on the cheek while letting her know he was aroused.

She said during the trip Mr. Johnson told her he had told his wife "to meet him at the airport without wearing any panties."

The suit claims the CNE president continued to make unwanted sexual advances to Ms. Turner after the trip, including ordering her to kiss him on the cheek and demanding that she hug him. She said she would try to hug him from the side, but he would press her into him from the front.

She said he would make sexual comments to her in the office in front of other employees, such as telling her she was "filling out that sweater real good" or telling her how pretty she was.

The suit says once he told her, "You have a job here as long as you keep doing good" and then immediately asked her to kiss him. She said on Valentine's Day in 2010 he bought flowers for all the women in the office and demanded that he kiss him after handing her the flowers.

On one occasion, she said he came to her desk and said, "Oh, I should not have done that." She said she asked him what and he said he had looked at another female employee's cleavage while passing her desk.

She said another time he told her he could not concentrate because a woman from the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union was "so fine."

The suit says he stated that a woman from a realty company was a "butter face." He said that meant "everything looks good but her face."

She said he gave her $15 for a class at a gym after commenting about her weight gain.

Near Christmas 2011, he gave her a bonus and said, "Now let me see your cleavage," the suit says.

She said she showed him a picture of her and her estranged husband and he told her, "You used to be a fox."

The suit says Ms. Turner was fired last Feb. 2 allegedly related to her work schedule.

It says after she left the office a supervisor hacked into her personal Facebook account and found information that led to the firing of two other CNE employees.

Attorney Amelia Roberts filed the suit.

Ms. Turner said she made many complaints about Mr. Johnson's "disgusting" behavior to supervisors, but she said one of them, Lisa Fields, passed on what she said to Mr. Johnson.

        

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