St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her is expected to respond to a lawsuit filed against her, by police chief Axel Henry sometime next week.
In October, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry expanded his lawsuit against Mayor Her adding, a retaliation claim and new allegations about how the city handled the investigation.
The original lawsuit included six counts against Her and the city.
Now, there's also an amended version adding a seventh count that alleges reprisal in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act against the mayor.
The Mayor says she maintains a good relationship with the department despite the allegations.
"We have strong leadership in in the mayor's office, in all of our departments, and that includes the police department," Her told WCCO Radio. "And people are public servants who are committed to this work and they continue to do this work."
The lawsuit stems from an independent investigation into the mayor’s conduct. Investigators found Her engaged in inappropriate workplace conduct but the same report claims the city could not substantiate allegations of sexual harassment.
Henry's lawyer, Chris Madel, has gone on record with WCCO Radio saying the report is a "whitewashing," and that if the gender roles were reversed, the situation would be very different.
"You talked about that we have the report, we still don't," Madel recently told WCCO's Chad Hartman. "This thing is so heavily redacted. I mean, still what is in there is more than enough to constitute sexual harassment under any version of the law."
According to the letter to Mayor Her during the independent investigation:
The report substantiated the following allegations that are inconsistent with City Workplace Conduct Policy:
- You engaged in offensive and inappropriate behavior with City employees.
- You created and shared offensive material.
- You created an uncomfortable work environment for City employees.
The investigation did not substantiate the following allegations:
- You engaged in sexual harassment of any City employee.
- You sent inappropriate text messages to City employees, other than with two employees.
- You made sexual noises while exercising at a City facility.
- You retaliated against any City employee.
Madel claimed that if the report exonerated Mayor Her, the findings would've been immediately released and "sunshine is the best disinfectant." He also threw in that this is "pathetic."
