In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Shalanna Taylor says Louisville Metro Council Member Phillip Baker made sexually explicit comments during meetings between the two and engaged in “unwanted touching.”
Baker is a Democrat representing District 6, which includes Old Louisville, Parkland and Shelby Park. The alleged sexual harassment occurred while Taylor served as Baker’s legislative aide after he was appointed to the seat in February 2023.
Taylor has accused Baker of “multiple inappropriate incidents” involving “unwanted, intimate touchings.” She also names Deputy Mayor David James in the lawsuit, accusing him of urging Baker to fire her after she reported the harassment to him.
“[Taylor] has no faith that her allegations will be meaningfully reviewed unless she
secures redress in this Court,” she stated in her lawsuit. “For that reason, [Taylor] brings this suit to clear her name and recover appropriate damages for her mistreatment.”
Baker, James and Louisville Metro Government are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Taylor is alleging they created a hostile work environment, that she was retaliated against for reporting the harassment and that Baker has defamed her. She’s seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees.
An initial complaint represents just one side of the case.
When asked for comment Friday, Baker said he emphatically denies all of the allegations.
“Since this is now a legal matter, I refer all things to my attorney,” he said.
Likewise, James “absolutely” denied the allegations set forth in the lawsuit, saying he “had nothing to do with Ms. Taylor’s termination.”
LPM News also reached out to Mayor Craig Greenberg’s office for comment. Press Secretary Kevin Trager said it would be inappropriate to comment on pending litigation.
Lawsuit details multiple incidents
In the lawsuit, Taylor lays out a series of inappropriate comments and touching that she says began during her first-ever meeting with Baker in February 2023.
Shortly after Metro Council appointed Baker to the District 6 seat, Taylor said she met with him in his office in City Hall. She said Baker showed up late to the meeting and immediately took off his jacket, displaying his body, and said:
“This is what I really look like. TV made me look fat.”
Later in that same meeting, Taylor said Baker brought up that he believed people would assume they were sleeping together because they would be working together so closely. Taylor said she told him that wouldn’t be a problem “because it would absolutely never be true.”
Taylor has accused Baker of making other sexually explicit comments during that meeting and placing his hand on her thigh “at least twice.”
“[Taylor] was made incredibly uncomfortable at the unwanted touching, and she decided that she would attempt to secure a different position in Metro,” the lawsuit states.
Taylor said she informed Baker that she would be leaving her role as the District 6 legislative aide after the annual Jazz in the Park event was held in August 2023. That was about six months after that first meeting, but Taylor didn’t last that long in her position.
Taylor said Baker repeatedly placed his hands on her legs in interactions after that February 2023 meeting and she made it clear to him that it was not okay. In one incident, Taylor said Baker brought up whether he was “her type.”
“[Taylor] responded, as calmly and firmly as she could manage, ‘You are not,’” according to the lawsuit.
In late March, Taylor said she told Deputy Mayor David James about Baker’s harassment. She had worked for James when he previously held the Metro Council District 6 seat. Taylor was then fired from her position the next month, on April 18, 2023.
Taylor alleges in her lawsuit that James’ wife, Michelle, later told her that James had urged Baker to fire her because James felt Taylor was going to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against Baker. Taylor said James’ wife also discouraged her from filing a lawsuit.
Proceedings within Metro Government
In August of this year, Taylor said she filed formal complaints of sexual harassment to Metro Council’s Business Office and the Ethics Commission.
The Council has its own process for dealing with workplace harassment complaints. They have a contract with an outside consulting firm, Intrinz Inc., that’s responsible for investigating complaints.
Taylor says she was contacted by an investigator at Intrinz Inc. in August. She told them about the sexual harassment she experienced under oath, but says she hasn’t heard back from the investigator since then.
Taylor is also alleging that Baker defamed her to the board of a local nonprofit, blaming her for missing meetings even though she hasn’t worked in his office now for more than a year. She said he’s also made false statements to people in the community that have portrayed her as lazy and dishonest.
Baker lost his bid for reelection to the District 6 seat in the May primary, when he was defeated by democratic socialist J.P. Lyninger. That means Baker will leave Metro Council in early January, regardless of the findings of the court or the internal investigation.
Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith is presiding over Taylor’s lawsuit.
