A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) staffer admitted she slept with a department supervisor to try to reach a higher pay grade, during a Black History Month event.
USDA staffer Rosetta Davis made the shocking admission during an Agriculture Department Black History month event last week, reported The Washington Post.
Other staffers walked up to the podium to extol the virtues of working at the USDA, however, Davis decided to share the story of her own workplace sexual harassment experience. She told those gathered that a higher-up offered her a grade GS-13, a pay grade usually meant for a top-level position, if she slept with him.
“I agreed to the sex,” she told WaPo, saying she did so hoping she would get a promotion. Though she had a sexual relationship with the supervisor for eight months, he never promoted her and she eventually cut off the relationship when he reportedly asked for an unnatural sexual act, she added to WaPo.
Apparently the admission left many people at the event “shell-shocked,” though some women made their way to the stage to comfort Davis.
“It was something you would not imagine in a setting like this,” one attendee at the event said.
The USDA sent Davis a letter shortly after her admission at the program and put her on paid administrative leave out of concern of any actions she may take in the future.
“This action is not a disciplinary action, rather is taken as a precautionary measure pending further review of occurrences in the workplace on February 15, 2018,” a letter from Thomas Mulhern, USDA’s director of human resources, read.
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Davis is also in the middle of a lawsuit against the USDA, alleging that workers in the department went after her when she tried to speak out on conditions in the workplace.
“Beyond that, we cannot comment on personnel issues or issues that are currently the subject of litigation. However, as a matter of departmental policy, USDA takes all claims of harassment very seriously. Our goal is to treat people fairly with a process that is transparent, objective, and consistent,” a USDA spokesperson told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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