Sergeant Fired Due to Racy Messages

A sergeant for the Rutherford County Correctional Work Center, Kavin Williams, was terminated at the end of July when he admitted that he had, in fact, exchanged some inappropriate and racy e-mail message with a number of different female subordinates. An investigation into these actions first started when one of the female subordinates filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, stating that he had been rubbing on her shoulders while she was at work. On July 27^th, Williams received notification from the Human Resources Department in which it was made clear that a complaint had been made against him. He had also been called into the office to discuss the complaint that had been made against him.

The Rutherford County Correctional Work Center Superintendent, Bernard Salandy, said, “Mr. Williams admitted to having inappropriate contact with female members of the Work Center staff and particularly his subordinates on multiple occasions.” He also said, “I then asked Mr. Williams to write a detailed statement, explaining his response to the allegations.” The statement that Williams provided showed that he admitted to sending inappropriate e-mail message and text message to a number of female subordinates. He made it clear that he had received nude pictures of these employees through text message. He also said that he flirted with one employee while only casually chatting with a different employee through texts. At this point in time, the female employees have not been named and it I unsure as to whether or not they will be in trouble for exchanging messages back with Williams.

Even though Williams made an honest statement and apologized for his actions upon being confronted by Salandy, he claims that the woman who filed a complaint against him only did so because she was looking to retaliate against him. He said that he had already had to give the woman both verbal and written warnings because her work was simply not up to par and she was not performing in the way in which she should. He also said that while he did rub her shoulders, she thanked him for the shoulder rub and never seemed to be bothered by the interaction with him at all. He said that if she did feel uncomfortable, she surely was not acting as if she was.

In the meantime, Salandy ended up writing, “After consulting with the Mayor and Rutherford County Human Resources, in accordance with the Rutherford County Employee Handbook, and due to the nature and degree of the allegation and seriousness of the violations, Mr. Kavin Williams will be terminated from the Rutherford County Correctional Work Center as of July 30, 2012.” Williams could not be contacted for comment.