Louisiana City Pays $330,000 to Settle 2 Lawsuits

Port Allen paid two former city employees $330,000 to end civil suits over alleged sexual harassment and race discrimination. That’s according to municipal documents released Thursday.

The Advocate reports former Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Cenceria Dalcourt and her attorneys received $167,500 of that money.

Another $162,500 went to former Assistant Chief Financial Officer Philip Mason.

On Wednesday night, Mayor Demetric “Deedy” Slaughter told City Council members her proposed $9.7 million budget includes $400,000 to cover several recent settlements of lawsuits.

In the settlement agreements, city officials do not admit any of the allegations contained in the suits by Dalcourt and Mason.

Both former city employees were fired after complaining that former Mayor Derek Lewis sexually harassed female city employees.

Dalcourt said in her suit that Lewis repeatedly propositioned her for sex “and created a hostile work environment for her.”

When Dalcourt rejected Lewis’ sexual advances, she alleged, he responded by “harassing her and threatening her job.”

In his suit, Mason alleged that Lewis sexually harassed female city employees and frequently made embarrassing and offensive remarks about Mason’s genitalia in front of some of those employees.

Both Mason and Dalcourt were fired after they filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, they said in their suits.

At their request and that of the city, both those suits were dismissed from federal court in Baton Rouge the last week of September.