Second woman files sexual harassment complaint against ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A second woman who worked with businessman Jonathan Dunning has filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, alleging, among other? things, inappropriate text messages.

The complaint was filed Sept. 11 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The woman's lawyer, Rick Digiorgio, provided confirmation of the complaint - which is not made available to the public by the EEOC - on the condition that his client's name be withheld.

The alleged harassment occurred at a restaurant in Hoover, where Dunning is majority owner. In her complaint, the woman said the harassment began in the summer of 2011 after she sold a majority stake in the restaurant to Dunning. She continued to work there until she resigned several months ago.

"From the time that I sold the business, I was sexually harassed by the new owner," she wrote in the EEOC complaint.

"The owner [Dunning] would ask me to meet him at different restaurants," she wrote. "Occasionally, he would ask me to meet him at his home. The owner would tell me that he would like to offer me employment at his other businesses; however the conversation would usually involve what gifts he could offer me if I complied with his requests."

The complainant also said Dunning sent her "demanding text messages in the middle of the night" and would "become verbally abusive if I did not respond."

Dunning's attorney, Andrew Allen, said Dunning denies the allegations and "will vigorously defend against them."

"The party alleging these unfounded claims is a co-owner of a restaurant in which she and Mr. Dunning are both investors," Allen said in an e-mailed statement. "A dispute arose among shareholders of the business, and one investor opportunistically latched upon false allegations in a completely unrelated matter in order to leverage greater bargaining power to resolve the dispute."

This complaint comes on the heels of one filed this summer by Sharon Waltz alleging harassment by Dunning while the two worked together at the nonprofit Birmingham Health Care and Dunning's private for-profit Synergy Medical Solutions.

Dunning and Waltz are also embroiled in a custody battle over two children Dunning fathered with Waltz.

Dunning was CEO of Birmingham Health Care for about a decade ending in 2008. Earlier this year, the Birmingham News reported that while serving dual roles as CEO at Birmingham Health Care and at a health clinic in Tuskegee, Dunning formed private for-profit companies which landed at least $2 million in contracts with both health clinics. The News also reported that Birmingham Health Care sold a building it owned to a private for-profit company owned by Dunning, while Dunning was still CEO at the nonprofit.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/10/second_woman_files_sexual_harr.html

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