North Las Vegas supervisor offered to protect worker from mayor for sex, complaint says

A North Las Vegas city worker is accusing a top city administrator of offering to protect her from Mayor John Lee's retribution in exchange for sex, according to a complaint filed with a government entity that handles disagreements between employers and employees.

The city said it plans to vigorously defend the case.

An Employee Management Relations Board complaint argues the mayor forced Pamela Dittmar to move to a job in the business licensing department — in which she had no experience — when she worked in economic development.

The mayor is not allowed to have administrative duties, according to the city charter.

During that initial conversation in October 2013, the complaint says, Lee asked Dittmar "inappropriate questions of a sexual nature," although those questions were not included in the complaint.

The mayor also told her "he could get other 'pretty people' to occupy (Dittmar's) position," according to the complaint.

Dittmar obeyed Lee, the complaint says, and began reporting to the director of Community Development & Compliance.

That director, Greg Blackburn, told Dittmar at least twice — in July and September 2014 — that the mayor did not like her, the complaint says.

During one of those conversations, the complaint says, Blackburn "made an unwanted sexual advance...by inviting her to his hotel suite which was being paid for by the City," according to the complaint.

She then reported the advance to her union representative, the complaint says.

"Blackburn's inappropriate behavior was meant as a quid pro quo for his protection against the Mayor's disfavor," the complaint says.

Later, the complaint says, Blackburn required Dittmar to fill out reports every 30 minutes telling him what she had accomplished during her workday.

But in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Blackburn adamantly denied Dittmar's allegations.

"They are all lies and have been proven to be such by a third-party investigator! Last year, Pamela and I were driving to an off-site meeting when she asked me what I was doing for the weekend, I told her I was staying at the Aliante for a Las Vegas Metro Chamber Leadership Advance conference where I was serving as a small group facilitator," Blackburn wrote. "The Metro Chamber sponsored the event and paid for the room. These false allegations conveniently surfaced several months later only after the Teamsters no longer represented her division."

Dittmar's complaint argues she reported her problems to her local Teamsters representative Ted Karant, who did nothing and that the ordeal eventually resulted in her losing her union protection.

Karant said he had been advised by the city and the union not to comment.

Dittmar, who has worked for North Las Vegas for 17 years, said the city's third-party investigation concluded July 16. Dittmar said contracted attorney Berna Rhodes-Ford, who did the investigation, told her the investigation was "unable to confirm the sexual harassment allegations."

"I do not believe that investigation was fair. It's tainted. The third party is close with (City Attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan) and is her sorority sister," Dittmar said.

Facebook photos show a Rhodes-Ford and Douglass Morgan in a selfie taken at an event for Alpha Kappa Alpha. Facebook posts also show Rhodes-Ford has campaigned for Douglass Morgan, who is vying for Municipal Court Judge Catherine Ramsey's seat in the event that a recall election takes place. Ramsey has contended the recall effort is a political hit job by the city and is fighting the recall, which alleges she abused city funds and makes haphazard rulings, in the Nevada Supreme Court.

Douglass Morgan said she is a member of many professional organizations and that an array of people in the legal community are her political supporters and have thrown fundraisers for her campaign.

"My purpose in investigating in a complaint is the truth. The goal is to get to the truth and to see if anyone violated the law. She's basically implying that we clear one person or the other. That's not true. I recommend discipline all the time," Douglass Morgan said. "I don't have a relationship with Greg Blackburn other that he is a city employee just like Pamela Dittmar is a city employee."

Douglass Morgan said the city is confident in its position and will vigorously defend the case.

Rhodes-Ford could not be reached for comment.

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes