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City Of Burley Sued By Former Employee Over Sexual Harassment Claims

christopher sebela
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A former Burley employee is suing the city and her old boss over claims he sexually harassed her and that city officials fostered a hostile work environment.

Lindsey Yeaman worked for the city of Burley from 2014 to 2020 in the wastewater department.

The civil lawsuit filed in federal court late last month said Yeaman’s boss, Dee Hodge, sexually harassed her on multiple occasions.

She said he put his hand down her shirt, frequently touched her, and demanded that she dress a certain way around him.

After rejecting him, the lawsuit claims Hodge threatened to fire her, sabotaged her work and forced her to constantly be on-call with no overtime pay. Yeaman also claims she was forced to perform work without proper training.

She said she finally brought her claims to human resources in 2020, though she was interrupted from telling her story by city administrator Mark Mitton, the lawsuit states. She said Mitton told her he didn’t have time to hear her complaints because of an “upcoming vacation to Hawaii.”

Yeaman was later given a negative performance review – the first negative review during her tenure at the city, she said. Hodge moved to fire her and oversaw her termination hearing, according to the lawsuit.

Hodge didn't respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Mitton said the city disputes Yeaman's claims.

"This item has been reviewed by the Idaho Human Rights Commission and they concluded there was no probable cause to believe that unlawful discrimination or retaliation occurred," he wrote.

Idaho Human Rights Commission reports are sealed and not available as a public record.

Kelly Anderson, a lawyer for Yeaman, said she and her client disagree with the commission's findings.

Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.

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