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)
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Thirtieth Year, Number 45
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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.