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Fri May 16, 2008

Stillwater mayor faces harassment, bias lawsuit

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By Johnny Johnson
Staff Writer
STILLWATER — Attorney Lori Young says she is proud of the three women who came to her with a sexual harassment complaint last year, because suing their boss at the bank also meant suing the mayor of Stillwater.

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In a lawsuit Young filed Tuesday in Payne County, Mayor Roger McMillian is accused of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and favoritism to those who accept sexual advances. Filing the lawsuit were two former employees and one current employee of the Stillwater branch of The Bank, N.A., where McMillian is president.

Mayor denies allegations
Although he said he had not actually seen the lawsuit Thursday morning, McMillian said he believes the allegations to be false because they were made previously to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which he said investigated the situation and found no violations of federal discrimination laws.

Young said she was not surprised the EEOC found no violations. She said the "investigation” McMillian referred to simply meant the commission took written statements from both sides.

"They did not investigate the claim, interview witnesses or even my clients,” she said. "They do not have the last word on this or else we would not have the right to pursue this in court.”

McMillian is a Stillwater native who was elected mayor in April 2006, and his term expires in 2009.

He graduated from Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa College of Law.

In the mid- to late 1970s, he served as city attorney for Stillwater and became employed as president of the bank in 2000.

Attorney threats alleged
Young writes in the lawsuit that McMillian once hired attorney Kieran Maye to give sexual harassment seminars to bank employees.

Once the seminar was over, however, the lawsuit alleges that