The surrogate
It begins with a woman who yearns for a baby and another who is willing and able to give her one. You can imagine the motives of the prospective parents. But what about the woman willing to carry a baby, give birth and then walk away?
Friday Night Rewind It doesn't matter which team you cheer for. We've got video previews of every high school football program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
BROOKSVILLE — The county utilities worker fired last week for making a sexually suggestive comment to a co-worker has won an appeal to keep his job.
Carl Kennedy, a county employee since December 1994, was terminated a week ago after saying to a female co-worker he passed in the hallway, "If I had a swing like that on my back porch, I would take it apart screw by screw.''
When his bosses called him into the office to ask him about the incident, Kennedy admitted making the comment. The paperwork on his termination cited the fact that the county had a zero-tolerance policy for any type of harassment.
Kennedy had also just recently been through training on how to avoid harassment — training county employees were ordered to attend after charges of racial discrimination and harassment were leveled against other workers in the Utilities Department several months ago.
Kennedy filed the appeal of his dismissal on Wednesday. The county's grievance process starts with that formal notice. The policy allows the employee to make his case to his direct supervisor and then up the chain of command until an agreement is reached.
The ultimate authority in such matters is the county administrator.
In Kennedy's case, the appeal was heard by Jesse Goodwin, assistant utilities director; Larry Jennings, deputy county administrator; Jon Jouben, assistant county attorney; and Beth Howley, employment coordinator for the Human Resources Department.
Their action rescinded the termination and replaced it with a three-day unpaid suspension, which ended Thursday. Kennedy is also on probation for six months, but has no other conditions to meet as part of that probation.
The panel members did not explain why they reversed the decision to fire Kennedy. Kennedy could not be reached for comment.
The other county employee who was fired last week for making sexually suggestive phone calls to two women, property management coordinator Michael Silvey, had not filed an appeal as of Friday afternoon. He has until Monday to do so.
Silvey was terminated after he called a secretary in the county's human resources office and an employee of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, both of whom he had worked with before, and asked them for sex.
Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434.
[Last modified: Sep 08, 2008 12:28 PM]
Comments on this article
by John
Sep 8, 2008 12:28 PM
The paperwork on his termination cited the fact that the county had a zero-tolerance policy for any type of harassment, so why is he back to work?? If that was my wife that he said too, he would be answering me!! THERE ARE TAX MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN
by What the ?
Sep 8, 2008 12:06 PM
So thats it. Wow they really followed through with the zero-tolerance didn't they. Sounds alot like the good ole boy club at work.
by frank
Sep 8, 2008 11:38 AM
thank god. for a minute there, i thought zero-tolernance meant zero-tolerance. what would happen in this world if we started holding people responsible for their actions?
by Disgusted
Sep 8, 2008 11:34 AM
If this worker was fired by Hamilton, this appeals board which co-incidentally is made up of longtime go along workers, will really diminish his authority. Are we about to see the ruin of yet ANOTHER county administrator??
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