Teachers' union fires receptionist after she files harassment complaint

      A receptionist for the teachers' union was fired Tuesday, one day after she filed complaints of harassment and discrimination against the executive director of the organization.
      Pamela Stephens, 36, originally filed complaints against the Clark County Classroom Teachers Association in August 1996 with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission. She filed a new complaint this week insisting executive director Stephen Confer retaliated against her since her first filing by allegedly setting her up for phony disciplinary actions.
      Confer wouldn't discuss Stephens' allegations or the motives for her firing Tuesday.
      "This step was taken only after long consideration and discussion with the appropriate personnel and legal staff," Confer said. "It was not a pleasant decision."
      Stephens, a black woman, said the harassment against her began immediately after she was hired in October 1994. She said she was overly supervised and unfairly disciplined for routine errors or misunderstandings.
      Her August complaint was prompted by receiving a four-day suspension without pay in August for misdirecting a telephone call.
      Stephens said Confer and other union officials had been trying to find a grounds to dismiss her since the discrimination action began.
      "This is nothing but harassment, and it was so on-going," Stephens said. "I was scared of what they were going to do to me next."
      In the termination letter released by Stephens, Confer said Stephens had been insubordinate on two instances last week.
      "You were argumentative and refused my direct order three times to return to your work station and return to work," Confer wrote. "You refused to perform the duties assigned to you, claiming you did not have access to a date stamp. Two date stamps were found in your desk."
      Stephens' filing against Confer on Monday also referred to the date stamps, claiming Confer planted them last week after rummaging through her desk while she was on sick leave seeking incriminating evidence against her.
      She said she refused an offered settlement in January in which the union would have paid her for the four days she was suspended. Instead, she wants an all-out investigation by the Nevada Equal Rights Commission.
      While the commission can't order the union to pay punitive damages for discrimination, Stephens' said her attorney expects to use the body's findings to build a potential civil lawsuit.