Former Marion Co. Assessor Greg Bowes fired Leroy Lewis for sexual harassment, misusing his computer and failing to perform his work assignments, but he has since been
rehired as a district manager by Bowes' successor, Joe O'Connor. Lewis is the husband of City-County Councilor Maggie Lewis. WRTV's Kara Kenney has the story:
The firing and rehiring of a Marion County Assessor's Office employee is raising concerns among some taxpayers.
According to documents obtained by 6News' Kara Kenney, LeRoy Lewis was fired on Oct. 6, 2010, by then-Marion County Assessor Greg Bowes.
The county's new assessor, Joseph O'Connor, rehired Lewis on June 1 as district manager of the Marion County Assessor's Office June 1, 2011.
Most of the documents in Lewis' personnel file are redacted, but according to the file, Lewis "failed to heed prior warnings related to a possible sexual harassment complaint" and "repeatedly used his agency-provided computer to access web sites on the Internet that are unrelated to his work assignment, and because he was not working on his main assignment for as much as four working days, termination is warranted."
When contacted Thursday, Bowes declined to elaborate, but said the firing was completely warranted.
"I absolutely stand by my decision," Bowes said. "It was completely correct." . . . .
In a response released Tuesday afternoon, O’Connor, who previously served as Lewis' director, said four people were interviewed for the position and that Lewis’ wife had nothing to do with his rehiring.
"As the current assessor, I feel like it is my duty to hire the most qualified individuals to perform the job and serve the citizens of the city of Indianapolis and Marion County," O'Connor wrote in an email to 6News. "Since his rehire, Mr. Lewis has performed well in his job functions and duties."
Maggie Lewis was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
Nothing like making hiring decisions based on good old fashion political cronyism to bolster morale in government offices.
6 comments:
Hi Gary: I just discovered your blog this morning. What an amazing body of work. I can tell it takes a second 'career' to maintain it. Anyway, I live downtown, own a home here, and really love the city.
I'll put your site on my bookmarks for sure and check back to see what dirt you've uncovered.
"Corruption is as corruption does."
-The Democrat Machine
I wonder if Joe O'Connor (D) has hired Kenneth "Bones" Ackles (D) as his "Expert" Advisor on Employment Issues?
More than likely one of the big law firms in town known for giving their clients horrible employment-law related advice in hopes it generates lawsuits that create billing opportunities for their firm.
Indy4U2C:
This assumes that the original firing wasn't political.And nobody is dumb enough to fire someone esp. a protected class without at least enough documentation to win a case.
As far as "Corruption is as corruption does", this is petty - if in fact it's cronyism-- compared to Ballard's pay to play.
Nonetheless, you would think that O'Connor should have avoided even the appearance of cronyism.
Bowes would have never fired Lewis because of who he was without having a pretty strong case against him.
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