Fired Exec Files Sexual Harassment Suit Against Chamber BY SUSAN USHER A former executive vice president of the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce is accusing the chamber and two of its board members of sexual harassment and sexual dis crimination in a civil complaint Filed Tuesday in Brunswick County Superior Court. The complaint was filed by Hollis B. (Holly) Richards against the South Brunswick Islands Cham ber of Commerce, Inc.; Annette Odom, immediate past president; and Terry Barbee, president. In her complaint Richards said that she was fired "on account of her sex." Richards, who began work for the chamber July 15, 1991, was fired April 17, 1992. A newly hired chamber executive, William Dcarman of Albany, Ga., is to be gin work Sept 15. "1 have no complaint against the membership of the chamber or the citizens of Brunswick County...," Richards said in a written statement released Tuesday. "I feel that the chambcr membership and the pub lic have a right to know about the leadership of the chambcr." Richards said she was "forced" to file the suit after an offer of set tlement was made to her from the chamber leadership by a third party ? a chamber member she said she had agreed not to identify ? to which she made a counter offer with a Sept. 4 deadline for reply. "However, at this time the counter offer has not been ft responded to, therefore we had no choice other than to pursue the suit" During Richards' tenure with the chamber, the com plaint contends, she was "subjected to sexual innuendo, suggestions, advances and harassment" by Odom and Bar bee. She asserts that after she repeatedly rejected partici pation in sexually-oriented activities the two "began a campaign against her to have her employment termi nated." The complaint alleges the two knowingly made "false and slanderous" accusations of misconduct "for the purpose of creating difficulty for the plaintiff in her job and either forcing her resignation or creating such an environment that her job would be terminated." Both Barbee and Odom were contacted by the Beacon for comment, but neither had seen a copy of the complaint until late Tuesday afternoon. They indi catcd they would respond after reviewing the charges, but neither had done so as of 1 1 p.m. Tuesday. After reviewing some but not all of the 20-page complaint Odom told a reporter, "1 am in a state of absolute shock." Among other things, the com plaint asserts that Richards rejected "nude hot tubbing" with chamber leaders, refused to date a married man recommended to her by one of the defendants and rejected defen odom dams' alleged sexuai advances. The complaint alleges that prior to rebuffing overt sexual overtures, Richards had received no complaints about her work from the chamber, with a good 90-day review in early October. (See SUIT. Page 2-A) IS. /99 jAG ?.< SONS 300 0. BOX 16' SPRINQPORT ~VVlUv Thirtieth Year, Number 45 *199? VH( MUNSWtCK MACON Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, September 1 0> 1992 5QC Per Copy- Pages, 3 Sections, 4 Inserts Fire Chief Says Inferior Pagers Cripple County 911 System BY ERIC CARLSON Citing what he called life-thrcat cning deficiencies in the county's 91 1 communications system, a local fire chief Tuesday criticized emer gency management officials for pur chasing low-quality equipment from a Wilmington dealer for more than it would have cost to buy within the county. Civietown Volunteer Fire Chief A1 Nord said at a Brunswick County Commissioners meeting that the ra dio pagers used to alert firefighters of an emergency do not pick up sig nals in many parts of the county. He said the pagers, which were selected by Emergency Management Coordinator Cecil Logan, are prone to breakdowns and are not built to adequate safety specifications. Nord further charged that Logan acted improperly in spending $86,832 for 324 pagers from an out of -county source without advertising for written bicis. He produced a pro posal from a Sunset Beach commu nications dealer offering to sell the same pagers to the county at a cost of $10 less per unit While the incoming side of the Emergency Services Center is excel lent, Nord said the operation is "to tally crippled" by a radio transmis sion system that does not cover Brunswick County. "The consoles and the telephone equipment are state -of-the art, but when a call comes in, those dis patchers don't leave their desks to respond to emergencies. We do," said Nord. Logan told the commissioners that he had tested several types of pagers for six weeks and decided on the Japanese-made Shinwa model because of its lower cost He said the pagers were bought from Wilmington Communications be cause the company offered better service than the local dealer, Kanoy Communications. He said the pagers met all necessary safety specifica tions. "They're lh<?. ?nn-of-lh<*.-line. pagers, but we didn't pay the top-of the line price," Logan said. Admitting that county emergency communications "lost some cover age area" when transmitting anten nas were moved to the 496-foot tower at the 911 center, Logan said he was "continuously working to get it right." The county has experi mented with booster transmitters in (See PROBLEMS, Page 2-A) STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG *UTTit Quite The Canvas Gaye Fulford painted a lot of faces Saturday at the Varnamtown Festival and found a nice smooth spot for an American flag on the top of Danny Galloway's head. The art work and unique "canvas" brought a smile to everyone's face. More festival and parade pho tos, Pages 6-B and 9-B. Water Damaae, Asbestos Fears Force Post Office Closing BY DOUG RUTTER Operations should be back to nor mal at Shallotte Post Office some time this week after water damage and fear of asbestos contamination forced officials to close the office last Friday morning. Area residents with mail boxes at the office were allowed to pick up their mail as usual starting Tuesday. Window service was expected to re sume Wednesday. Shallotte Postmaster Frank Brin goli said the office was closed Friday around 9 a.m. for the safely of employees and customers. Rain water leaked through the roof onto the floor and knockcd down ceiling tiles. Postal officials closed the office for health and safety reasons, fearing release of invisible asbestos fibers might result from some of the dam aged ceiling tiles. The office has been aware of the asbestos tiles for a number of years, but had not re placed them, said Bringoli, because they did not pose a safely hazard un til they began breaking apart under Friday's rains. Even then, Bringoli said safety in spectors determined there was no contamination in the building. But the old section of the post office re mained closed Tuesday while work ers finished removing and replacing asbestos tiles. "We re not leaving Shallotte ever." ? Frank Bringoli Shallotte Postmaster The old section includes the ser vice counter, postmaster's office and part of the mail room. It is the only scction that had ceiling tiles made of asbestos, which can cause lung-re Iated problems if sufficient fibers are breathed. The water damage at the post of fice apparently happened Friday morning. The California company that owns the building and rents it to the U.S. Postal Service had started repairing the roof about two weeks ago. Bringoli said the roofers evidently didn't seal the roof adequately when they left the job early last week. When it rained Friday, the roof leaked, causing the ceiling damage. "It looked like Niagara Falls," said Bringoli. Shallotte Post Office employees noticed the damage when they ar rived for work Friday morning, and closed the office after ceiling tiles started falling to the floor under the weight of the rainwater. "The tiles coming down were dangerous," Bringoli said. "The big gest concern was that some of the tiles in the ceiling are asbestos, and when they get wet, fibers are re leased into the air." Local postal officials waited all day Friday for health inspectors who could lest the air inside the post of fice for the presence of asbestos fibers. Bringoli said he didn't find out until 2 a.m. Saturday that the air was clean and it was safe to open the lobby so people could get their mail. Box holders were allowed inside the office Saturday to pick up Friday's mail. Mail they would have normally picked up Saturday, however, was kept at the South Brunswick branch office and handed out over the coun ter to people who made the trip to Seaside. Bringoli said he hoped the clean up and repairs to the ceiling would be finished by Wednesday so win dow service could resume. Lights that were damaged by water will be replaced. Bringoli denied rumors that the temporary closure was part of a plan to close the Shallotte Post Office for good. "We're not leaving Shallotte ever," he said. There were plenty of frustrated people outside the post office last Friday morning after the doors were (See P.O., Page 2-A) Labor Board Upholds Order In BEMC-Union Dispute BY SUSAN USHER A National Labor Relations Board panel has upheld an administrative judge's order that would require Brunswick Electric Mem bership Corp. to offer to rehire a fired union icouci <uiu u< iicguuaic ccrtain matters with the union that represents some co-op employees. In the three-member panel's decision an nounced last week, the NLRB affirmed Ad ministrative Judge Robert G. Romano's find ings and adopted his recommended order. BE MC had filed exceptions to Romano's Feb. 27 decision, none of which were upheld on re view by the NLRB. Romano's order would require BEMC to offer to rehire George Douglas (Doug) Smith Jr. of Whiteville, who at the time he was fired by BEMC was president of Local No. 495 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The union represents about 60 co-op employees.Smith could not be reached for comment Tuesday at his home in Whiteville. BEMC General Manager David Batten said Tuesday that the co-op's board of directors would discuss its response to the NLRB deci sion Sept. 24, at its next regular meeting. "We haven't received a summary letter from our attorney. We will see what the attor ney recommends and take it to the board. The full board will make the decision," said Batten. "We've not scheduled a special meet ing to discuss this." Options include accepting the terms of the order or appealing the NLRB decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Batten. The co-op's labor relations lawyer is W. Britton Smith Jr. of Charlotte. Smith was fired after an alleged scuffle in volving Robert Walker "Chip" Leaviu Jr., BE MC assistant general manager, during a bar gaining session on May 10, 1990, with the union over wages. The panel indicated that in upholding Romano's decision that Smith's dismissal vio lated the National Labor Relations Act, it did not rely on the fact that Leaviu was charged with assault. It therefore found it "unneces sary" to pass on the relevancy of the verdict in the criminal case, in which Leaviu was found not guilty. Romano's order also directs BEMC to re scind assignments of work to non-union eligi ble employees that should be done by only union-eligible employees and to stop making such assignments; begin, on request, to bar gain with the union regarding the positions in question: and to require its managers to refrain from threatening or coercing union members, spying on union meetings and activities and prohibiting workers from talking about their union at work. The original union-busting complaints, filed in 1989, said BEMC violated the labor law by creating the impression that it was spying on union activity, encouraging workers to inform on union supporters and maintaining a non written rule about talking about the union at work. Holden Beach Homeowners Blast Septic Tank Rules BY DOUG RUTTER If Holden Beach officials approve rules aimed at stopping abuse of septic systems, they'll do so against the will of most home owners who have spoken at recent public hearings. Property owners bombarded commission ers with just as much opposition and ques tions during the hearing Saturday as they did at the first hearing on the ordinance Aug. 19. The Labor Day weekend hearing drew about 100 people. Nearly all of the 35 speakers said they opposed the rules drafted by the town wastewater management com mittee. Many people said the rules aren't enforce able and would threaten family reunions at the beach by limiting the number of people who can stay in a house. "Everybody came to Holden Beach be cause it was a family-oriented beach," said homeowner Sandy Crosby. "We don't need anything that is going to disturb the current complexion of this beach." The ordinance was written to keep people from overusing scptic systems and advertis ing that homes can sleep more people than they were designed to accommodate, or two people per bedroom. Crowding of cottages is common at area beaches and typically worst in the summer, when homes are rented to vacationers. Some town officials arc afraid that overusing sep tic systems leads to failure and pollution. But opponents of the rules said Saturday they didn't know of many septic system fail ures on Holden Beach. They said the town board has no proof that septic systems are polluting ground or surface water. One of the opponents of the rules, devel oper Jim Griffin, indicated that the town was approaching the problem of overcrowding from the wrong angle. Griffin suggested the town try to control occupancy rather than tying the crowding problem to septic systems. "The committee might have the right siring but the wrong yo-yo." Many of the speakers advocated a central sewer system for the island as a means of "The ordinance they have proposed is seriously flawed. It is clearly discriminatory." ? Tom Mclver Property Owner solving environmental problems associated with overcrowding, and several urged the town board to get started immediately. Former Mayor John Holden said it took six years to get the town water system on line once work began, and it will take at least five years to build a sewer system. A committee is gathering information on a sewer system, including data on how much it would cost to build, how the town could pay for it and how much homeowners could expect to pay per month. Tom Mclver was among those Saturday who questioned the legality of the septic system rules. He said they discriminate against people trying to rent or sell their homes. "The ordinance they have proposed is se riously flawed. It is clearly discriminato ry...," he said. "It will clearly be challenged in court." As proposed, the ordinance would allow the building inspector to inspect vacant homes to see if they have more bedrooms than were approved on the county septic tank permit. Fran Vogt, a permanent resident, told the board of commissioners Saturday she is op posed to the town inspecting houses to sec if they comply. "You may stick your head in my septic tank but not in my house," she said, drawing a loud round of applause. Jim Collins, another permanent resident who said he's been visiting the beach since 1948, pointed out that the ordinance is based on state health regulations. Although the wording may need to be changed, Collins said homeowners just can't ignore state rules. "I don't think we're in a position to say this doesn't suit us," he said. Rocky Harrison suggested the town leave enforcement of septic tanks rules to the county health department and focus on other issues like beach access for the handicapped. But Collins wasn't alone in his support of the regulations. Tony Champ said he likes the rules, especially the ban on advertising homes to sleep more than their intended ca pacity. Champ also said he was bothered by talk about a sewer system, which he said would encourage higher density on Holden Beach. Hugh Stohler, who rents his home in the summer, also spoke in support of the ordi nance and the continued use of septic sys tems on the island. Stohler said people were using the ordi nance as a "political ratchet" to push for a central sewer system. Town commissioners could make a deci sion on the proposed rules when they meet Sept 23. The next regular meeting is sched uled Oct 5.

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