New York: The US immigration agency head, who has been accused of mistreating male co-workers and calling them lewd names, took a leave from her post after two more men came forward citing the same.
Suzanne Barr, the chief of staff at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “voluntarily placed herself on leave” while her agency reviews a recent lawsuit that alleges man-baiting, ICE Public Affairs director Brian Hale said.
Lawyer Morris Fischer said that the new, anonymous accusers stepped forward after he filed the lawsuit on behalf of ICE Special Agent in Charge James T Hayes Jr.
One of the accusers recalled a lighthearted October 2009 group conversation at the office of ICE director John Morton that turned awkward fast due to her comments.
“At some point during the conversation, I witnessed Suzanne Barr turn to senior ICE employee Tae Johnson and state ‘You a sexy mothaf---a!’ She then looked at his crotch and asked, ‘How long is it anyway?’,” the New York Daily News quoted him as saying in the statement.
A second man claimed that he was working as an ICE attaché in Colombia the same year when he attended a party at a US diplomat’s home where she drank heavily and approached and offered oral sex to him.
Fischer said that the statements — with accusers’ names included — have been given to Justice Department defence lawyers as evidence in the pending lawsuit.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, August 16, 2012, 20:09