NEW ORLEANS -- Naaman Stewart, a recent Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club president and its newly elected king, was suspended Wednesday night, weeks after he was accused in a lawsuit of making sexual advances toward a former club employee, sources said.
Club members said Stewart was escorted from the building after the board voted 16-7 to suspend him.
While Stewart was suspended, it was not immediately clear if he would have to give up the crown that he earned after he eeked out a victory by six votes.
Elroy James, the club’s current president, said he was in a meeting and could not talk when WWL-TV contacted him Wednesday night. Walking out of the meeting, WWL-TV asked James if he could confirm Stewart's suspension. James would not comment, and said he would release a statement later.
Stewart did not return a message seeking comment.
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The alleged victim, whom WWL-TV is not identifying, accused Stewart of following her into a women’s bathroom in the club’s North Broad Street headquarters one night in June 2015.
“Mr. Stewart became very aggressive, demanding that (the) plaintiff show him her breasts and he would leave,” the lawsuit alleges. “Mr. Stewart solicited and then demanded sexual activity from the plaintiff. Mr. Stewart groped and grabbed the plaintiff on several parts of her body.”
The alleged victim claims that “she was tossed around hitting the walls hard in the restroom trying to brace herself and escape the vicious contact of Naaman Stewart.”
The lawsuit says the alleged victim recorded audio of that night.
The alleged victim also claimed that she was fired after she reported the encounter to the club’s leadership. She filed a civil lawsuit against Stewart and Zulu on June 29.
She claims Stewart told her, “Why you don’t want to get with me? I have more money than the other members,” before threatening to lock her inside the club, according to The Advocate.
First District officers wrote up the encounter as a misdemeanor sexual battery. They declined to seek an arrest warrant for Stewart, instead referring the case to prosecutors, according to a police report on the incident, The Advocate reported.
Stewart last week sought to have the lawsuit tossed out, arguing that the alleged harassment has passed the statute of limitations by two years since the lawsuit was filed three years after the alleged harassment.
Civil District Court Judge Melvin Zeno has not yet set a hearing date on Stewart’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, according to court records.