BATON ROUGE, LA – Today, Judge Timothy Kelley of the 19th Judicial District Court released the redacted workplace complaint against Pat Magee.

Sandra Schober, the Deputy Director of the Louisiana Department of Justice’s Administrative Services Division, issued the following statement after today's release:

“Prior to joining the LADOJ in 2014, I served the State and her people in Human Resources positions with the LSU Ag Center, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Revenue. My over two decade experience in public service also includes a proactive role on Governor John Bel Edwards’ Sexual Harassment Task Force.

In my position at the LADOJ, I am responsible for all human resource functions – operations, benefits, compensation, staffing, and employee relations for our Department’s nearly 600 employees. This includes investigating and taking action on things like performance, behavioral incidents, workplace violence, harassment, and discrimination claims.

I take that responsibility most seriously, and I am committed to holding employee rights sacrosanct. It is because of that commitment that I took swift action upon receiving the complaint against Pat Magee.

I oversaw the independent and thorough investigation conducted by Taylor Porter Law Firm, which discovered that Mr. Magee engaged in inappropriate verbal conversations with colleagues as well as with third party affiliates of the LADOJ. It also concluded that his conduct did not rise to the level of sexual harassment.

What was released today are the accusations. Accusations get investigated and decisions concerning discipline are made based on our ability to validate the accusations. Just as our office in criminal matters does not convict people based on accusations, we discipline based on the evidence.

Mr. Magee was disciplined with a 38-day suspension without pay and mandatory participation in training courses to assist in developing his emotional intelligence, professionalism in the workplace, conflict management, and leadership skills. During the suspension period, Mr. Magee is required to work with a salary reduction equivalent to 38 days of leave without pay - equating to a reduction in pay of $20,559.52.

My office has acted and will continue to act in a way that encourages people to speak up without fear of reprisal or risk of stirring ill will. When doing so, we will continue to take into account the privacy of all employees named in a raw grievance. After all, employees identified in a complaint do not forfeit their right to privacy when a complaint is lodged against another employee. Their privacy must be taken into account most of all.”