NEW ORLEANS -- The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s president on Thursday promised a fast and thorough investigation into alleged sexual harassment of a former club employee by its king-elect.
“It’s important to us, so we’re going to work through this as expeditiously as possible,” Elroy James said the morning after Zulu’s board voted 16-7 to suspend Naaman Stewart from all club activities.
Stewart was previously Zulu’s president and was elected in May as the krewe’s king for 2019. While he is banned from attending any Zulu event, his status as king is tied to what the internal investigation finds.
“That’s largely unresolved,” James said of Stewart’s pending reign.
James said any perceived sluggishness response from Zulu after the alleged victim lodged her complaints against the club and Stewart was due in part to the club waiting to be served with the lawsuit.
During a July 9 press conference, James said Zulu would take no action until the club was served. On Wednesday morning, he confirmed the club had received the lawsuit. Hours later, Stewart was reportedly escorted out of the clubhouse after the board voted to suspend him.
James said Thursday that the club’s new leadership was installed just last week, meaning the process of setting up new committees -- including the one that will investigate the claims against Stewart -- is only just beginning.
The committee that will investigate the claims against Stewart will be in place by Aug. 5, James said.
“As president, I am committed to assembling that (investigative) team together as soon as they are approved by the membership to … get this across the finish line,” he said. “As soon as that is approved … I’m meeting with that team to give them their marching orders.”
Attempts Thursday to contact the alleged victim’s attorney were unsuccessful.
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.
Stewart has since asked a judge to toss out the lawsuit, arguing that the allegations were more than a year old. “A plaintiff only has a limited time to file suit in Louisiana,” WWL-TV legal analyst Pauline Hardin said.
Stewart’s motion notes that the alleged harassment happened in 2015, three years before the lawsuit was filed.
Meanwhile, Zulu's leaders are crafting a sexual harassment policy. James said the board will consider it in the coming weeks.
Danny Monteverde can be reached at danny@wwltv.com.