SPORTS: Comparison drawn between Mainieri, Bertman, p. 5
Reveille The Daily
www.lsureveille.com
Daily Reveille Special Report
Thursday, June 20, 2013 • Volume 117, Issue 140
Ex-LSUPD major’s case against University reinstated Trey Labat Staff Writer
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans recently reinstated a gender discrimination case against the University. The case, which was originally dismissed in 2010 by a federal judge in Baton Rouge, involves Martha Helen Haire, a former major of the LSU Police HAIRE Department, who said she was a victim of gender discrimination when vying for a promotion to chief of LSUPD. Haire claims she was discriminated
against by her co-worker by current LSUPD Chief of Police Lawrence Rabalais. Haire is now the director of Public Safety and the chief of police at the University of Northern Iowa. Rabalais allegedly told a coworker that he wanted to “get rid of” Haire and would quit if a women were appointed chief, according to court records. “I never doubted my ability to win the case, and now that the circuit has given me the opportunity, I fully expect a different outcome,” Haire said on Wednesday. The Circuit Court reinstated the case via the cat’s paw theory of liability. Cat’s paw was established by the U.S. Supreme Court and says employers can be held liable
for discriminatory conduct even if purported justification for not prothe person who made the decision moting Haire, whose credentials was not discriminatory, were superior to those but relied in part by those Rabalais, was pre‘I never doubted of who were. texual, and there is furIn the ruling, the court my ability to win ther question whether determined Haire had the case, and now Haire could have procured sufficient evi- that the circuit committed an official dence for a jury and that has given me the wrongdoing when she the justification for the complied with her suopportunity original ruling was largely perior’s directives.” I fully expect pre-texual. In May 2009, “For her, what folHaire — following a different lowed ... was all a charade her superior’s orders outcome.’ that [the University] un— added information dertook to cover its tracks into the police reportMartha Haire Former LSUPD major in the sexual discriminaing system pertaining tion suit it anticipated. We to an arrest of a former agree that Haire has produced evi- University dean. According to the dence sufficient for a jury to rule in original ruling, the incident could her favor,” the ruling said. “There have violated police procedure. is a bona fide question whether the After the incident, an
Doggone
investigation took place into Haire’s actions that included Rabalais — the person in direct competition with Haire for the promotion . He then interviewed Haire and subsequently gave her the lowest performance review she had received in her 22 years with the University. The performance review cost Haire her supervisory responsibilities. In August 2009, Rabalais was named interim police chief. The position was interim because he had not completed his college degree, a requirement of the job. Former University Chancellor Michael Martin made the formal ruling on hiring Rabalais as the police chief. Martin’s ruling HAIRE, see page 15
POLITICS
good week
Jindal signs ban on smoking Trey Labat Staff Writer
dogs,” said Baron. “And when I realized that “Take Your Pet to Work Week” was this week, I said, ‘Why don’t we do it in conjunction with that week?’” Happy’s Irish Pub was also one of the businesses that took part in celebrating local canines. The pub tweaked its “Happy’s
While the 2014 school year will ring in a new class of freshman, that fall semester will also bring about new regulations that will affect smokers on campus. On June 10, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 36, which mandates all public post-secondary education institutions must develop strict non-smoking policies by August 1, 2014. The bill was first introduced into the State Senate on April 8, when it was revised, and even then, it received vast majority support in a 31-3 vote. The bill’s chief architect, Sen. David Heitmeier, D-Algiers, was also supported unanimously throughout the state House of Representatives, as the bill passed with a 97-0 vote. It also gives universities the option to ban all forms of
DOGS, see page 15
JINDAL , see page 4
CONNOR TARTER / The Daily Reveille
Hayes, a three-year-old pit bull (left), and Huey, a three-year-old terrier mix (right), curiously sniff each other Wednesday at the Indigo Hotel in downtown Baton Rouge.
‘Dog Days’ debuts downtown
Aggi Ashagre
Contributing Writer
Pet-owners have something to wag their tails about in downtown Baton Rouge. The inaugural “Dog Days
of Summer” debuted this week as pups from all over the Baton Rouge area flocked downtown for the festivities. From June 17 to 21, businesses all over the downtown area will be accommodating pet-owners and their pets with special events such as “Yappy Hour” at Capital City Grill and Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar and
Restaurant. Specialty drinks featured at the events include “The Pomeranian” and “The Maltese Martini.” “Dog Days” was a dream that came true for Alicia Baron, managing director of the Downtown Business Association of Baton Rouge. “My two favorite things are downtown Baton Rouge and my