<p>A county elected official is the subject of a discrimination complaint after another county employee said she made inappropriate sexist comments in the workplace, implying she would not be able to keep her shirt on or would expose her breasts in a photo.</p>
<p>The elected official is Johnson County Auditor Pamela Burton, who is seeking re-election in Tuesday’s Republican primary, and the employee making the complaint was Lori Prince, a deputy prosecutor for the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.</p>
<p>Prince is calling for Burton’s resignation and said she wants the voters to know what has happened. She has also filed an initial inquiry with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she was discriminated against.</p>
<p>Burton has apologized for what she is calling a friendly joke and said she does not intend to resign. She said Prince’s complaint is political mud-slinging, and she has served the taxpayers faithfully and transparently for decades. She is in her first term as auditor but has been a county employee for 26 years.</p>
<p>"The voters of Johnson County are intelligent people, and my actions speak for themselves," she said.</p>
<p>On April 12, Prince went to the auditor’s office for an appointment to have her photograph taken and her employee identification badge renewed. She was with two auditor’s office employees when Burton came to the doorway to ask the two employees if they needed any help. They said no, and Burton then said, "just make sure she keeps her shirt on for that picture," Prince said.</p>
<p>Prince said she and the other employees did not respond, and that she was shocked.</p>
<p>Burton acknowledges making the comment and said it was a joke based on their past relationship and conversation as friends. Prince said the two aren’t friends, and only communicate as needed due to their jobs.</p>
<p>"I don’t know, it was just not said in a bad manner," Burton said.</p>
<p>Prince said that when Burton realized no one was responding to her initial remark, she then told one of her employees to make sure that Prince "does not have her boobs out for that picture, we know what office she comes from," and left the room, Prince said.</p>
<p>Burton denies making the second remark.</p>
<p>"Absolutely none of that is true," Burton said this week.</p>
<p>Prince said the comments were not funny and were inappropriate. She was embarrassed, and had no idea why the comments were made.</p>
<p>She said Burton’s comments were sexist, which is discrimination, and also created a hostile work environment.</p>
<p>"My request is for her resignation," Prince said. "If it were a male who made this statement to a female, a male would have been forced to resign, or pressured to resign."</p>
<p>"Because it is female to female, it is viewed much differently," Prince said. "If she is willing to act that way to someone who is not even an employee of her office, then ultimately she should resign."</p>
<p>Prince said she was appropriately dressed for work and wearing a high-necked shirt, but Burton’s comments were totally inappropriate regardless of what she was wearing.</p>
<p>She spoke with Prosecutor Brad Cooper and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Villanueva, and contacted county coordinator Barb Davis the next day. County attorney Kathleen Hash quickly contacted Prince and asked her how she wanted the situation resolved, and Prince told her she wanted Burton to apologize to her and the two employees, Prince said.</p>
<p>Hash said she met with Burton within minutes and that she took responsibility for her statement and offered to apologize. Hash would not clarify what specific statement or comments Burton took responsibility for.</p>
<p>During the meeting facilitated for the apology, Burton told Prince that she was sincerely sorry, her comment was inappropriate and that she shouldn’t have said it, Prince said.</p>
<p>Burton would not answer questions about the apology meeting.</p>
<p>During the apology meeting, Prince asked Burton if she remembered what she had said, but Burton stopped her, put her hand up and told Prince that Prince was not going to reprimand her, Prince said. Burton referenced how she had told Prince to keep her shirt on because "I know the type of ladies in your office," but repeated that she meant it as a friendly joke and nothing more, Prince said.</p>
<p>Prince had taken Villanueva with her to the meeting, and he told Burton he had attended to support to Prince, but that Burton had now made a statement against the prosecutor’s office. He told Burton he didn’t know what he had done to warrant her animosity towards him, he said.</p>
<p>Burton had become defensive at that point, Villanueva and Prince said. Both said the shift left the feeling of a non-apology.</p>
<p>Burton asked Villanueva if she needed to apologize to him as well, Villanueva and Prince said. He told her no, but the offices had to work together, he said.</p>
<p>Burton said that the "saltiness" comes from both offices, and Prince said she felt like the meeting had degraded. She thanked the others for their attempts, and left, Prince said.</p>
<p>The auditor’s office manages the county’s finances, depositing money from grants, taxpayers, fees, the state and federal government and other sources, into county funds and paying the county’s bills. The prosecutor’s office has multiple funds and revenue sources, requiring regular communication between the offices.</p>
<p>At times, that communication has been tenuous or stressed, and the offices have met previously to aim toward a better working relationship, Villanueva and Prince said. But further work on that issue was not the point of the meeting, he said.</p>
<p>"The only thing I have ever said, any time I’ve ever spoken to her (Prince) or any of those girls, was only in a friendly and outgoing manner," Burton said.</p>
<p>Both of her employees referred questions about the incident to Hash, and said they had not been interviewed as part of any county investigation into what had occurred.</p>
<p>Hash said she thought the matter was resolved because Burton had taken full responsibility, explained that she was trying to be humorous and did not intend to offend anyone, Hash said in a written statement this week. Burton apologized and assured everyone involved that nothing like that will occur in the future, Hash said.</p>
<p>The county has not been notified of any claims filed, and Hash said she sees no legal basis for a claim.</p>
<p>Villanueva said it’s up to the voters to decide whether the incident should have any impact, but that the comments Prince said Burton made are inappropriate.</p>
<p>"If these had been made by a man, people would be going ballistic over this. It’s not any less inappropriate because they were made by a woman," he said.</p>
<p>Burton is an elected official who is hired by the voters. She faces a challenge from fellow county employee Ryan Rather in Tuesday’s primary election.</p>
<p>Prince wanted voters to know about the incident because Burton deals with the public and employees of other county offices.</p>
<p>"People knowing what goes on, and what has gone on in that office, allows voters to be more educated when they make their vote, since she is an elected official and no one can fire her from her job," she said.</p>
<p>On April 24, Prince filed a workplace harassment inquiry with the EEOC and is awaiting an initial interview. The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee due to the person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or certain other factors.</p>
<p>The EEOC will decide if it has the authority to investigate whether any discrimination has taken place in the workplace and could try to mediate a resolution, Prince said. If any suspected wrongdoing in found, a voluntary settlement could be reached or Prince could get approval to file a federal lawsuit, Prince said.</p>
<p>She said the decisions ahead are difficult, because she is an employee of the county that any legal action would be against. She has not decided what ultimate action, if any, she will take.</p>
<p>Burton said that the complaint is an effort to make her look bad and harm her politically.</p>
<p>Prince said that she took no action to prompt Burton’s comments in the final month before the election, and that Burton’s statements were inappropriate whether they were said before or after the primary. Prince said she has nothing to gain from the discrimination complaint, and filed the inquiry knowing that her name is now associated with such a claim.</p>
<p>Burton has retained Franklin attorney Lynn Gray to represent her if the EEOC inquiry progresses or further steps are taken.</p>
<p>Gray said she has found no basis for an EEOC claim.</p>
<p>"She made what she thought was a funny comment, to which everyone laughed, and subsequently was told that it hurt someone’s feelings, to which she sincerely apologized," Gray said.</p>
<p>Prince also contacted the state auditor’s office after noting that state Auditor Tera Klutz had endorsed Burton for re-election in a letter to the editor published in the Daily Journal in April.</p>
<p>Burton and Klutz spoke last week about what had happened, and Burton recommended Klutz withdraw her endorsement, said Jared Bond, the spokesperson for the state auditor’s office. Klutz left the decision up to Burton, Bond said.</p>
<p>Burton said she ultimately decided against removing Klutz’s endorsement.</p>
