{"id":27829,"date":"2022-09-07T23:52:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T03:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=27829"},"modified":"2022-09-08T00:06:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T04:06:37","slug":"friends-with-benefits-former-executive-of-national-congress-of-american-indians-ousted-in-sexual-harassment-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/09\/07\/friends-with-benefits-former-executive-of-national-congress-of-american-indians-ousted-in-sexual-harassment-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Friends with benefits’: Former executive of National Congress of American Indians ousted in sexual harassment dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Dante<\/a>
Dante Desiderio, then serving as Chief Executive Officer of the National Congress of American Indians, appears before a roundtable of the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth in Washington, D.C., on April 7, 2022. Photo: FairGrowthCmte<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
‘Friends with benefits’<\/div>\r\n
Former executive of National Congress of American Indians ousted in sexual harassment dispute<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, September 7, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — \r\nThe chief executive officer of the National Congress of American Indians<\/a> lost his job over his handling of a sexual harassment investigation, according to documents filed in court<\/a> here.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nDante Desiderio, who was on the job for barely a year<\/a>, was not the target of investigation, according to a complaint he filed in the nation’s capital. Instead, it was the non-Indian attorney he hired as NCAI’s general counsel who was accused of making a comment of a sexual nature to a younger woman employee.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nMax Muller, according to Desiderio’s lawsuit, suggested he become “friends with benefits” to the employee during her first visit to NCAI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe incident — detailed for the first time in public — marks the second time in four years in which NCAI’s highest-ranking legal official was investigated for sexual harassment. In 2018, non-Indian attorney John Dossett was ousted<\/a> after Indianz.Com first reported on the allegations<\/a> that eventually cost him a role he held at the organization for two decades.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAnd it marks the second time in three years in which the top executive at the largest inter-tribal organization in the United States has been embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal. In 2019, Jackie Pata, a citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, departed NCAI following a four-month suspension<\/a> connected to her handling of the Dossett investigation<\/a>, which itself stemmed from an incident three years prior.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAmid the history of workplace concerns, NCAI acted much more quickly to address employee safety, according to the documents filed in court by Desiderio himself. The former CEO was suspended on the eve of the organization’s first in-person conference of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> on June 10. He was out of a job<\/a> two months later.\r\n

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\r\n\"Dante<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
In a lawsuit filed on June 24, 2022, Dante Desiderio demanded $5 million from the National Congress of American Indians for alleged employment discrimination stemming from his suspension as Chief Executive Officer of the largest inter-tribal organization in the United States. He is no longer employed by NCAI.<\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut in a lawsuit in which he is demanding $5 million from NCAI, Desiderio claims tribal leaders who serve on the organization’s executive committee<\/a> retaliated against him by placing him on administrative leave while they investigated the sexual harassment allegation against Muller. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nDesiderio was “humiliated and embarrassed” by NCAI’s “retaliatory action,” the complaint that was first filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on June 24 states. It goes on to allege that word of his suspension was “leaked to Indianz.Com,” which was the first to publish the news<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“This retaliatory action has resulted in public humiliation, damage to plaintiff’s reputation, embarrassment, mental distress, loss of life’s pleasures, and has damaged him in his trade and profession, which will result in loss of future earnings, and earning capacity,” Desiderio adds.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAnd in an even more incendiary claim, the lawsuit alleges the sexual harassment investigation was merely a “ruse” orchestrated by NCAI’s leadership in order to provide the basis for firing Muller and a second non-Indian employee named Pamela Fagan. Both individuals previously worked with Desiderio at NAFOA<\/a>, where he served as executive director for more than 10 years.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Indianz.Com story about Desiderio’s suspension<\/a> in fact mentioned his hiring of Muller and Fagan as concerns connected to his tenure at NCAI. The complaint confirms that the former CEO was willing to go to bat for these non-Indian associates — even if it meant going against the wishes of the tribal leaders who serve on the organization’s governing board.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAccording to the lawsuit, Desiderio “protested against firing Muller and Fagan because they were non-Native American and explained their value to the organization. Plaintiff advised the executive committee that he would not discriminate against any potential employees, current employee, or contractors because they were not Native American.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDesiderio further singles out two of the most prominent women leaders in Indian Country — NCAI President Fawn Sharp and NCAI Treasurer Shannon Holsey<\/a> — as repeatedly pushing for the firing of Muller and Fagan. After he refused to carry out their supposed directives, he contends the organization engaged in “race-based termination” of his two colleagues.\r\n

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\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Documents:\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tDocuments: Dante Desiderio v. National Congress of American Indians\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Dante Desiderio is suing the National Congress of American Indians. Get the documents here.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Indianz.Com\"\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAccording to Desiderio, NCAI’s executive committee “usurped” his authority by hiring the Quarles and Brady law firm<\/a> to investigate the sexual harassment allegation against Muller. The firm was previously utilized by the organization in the wake of the prior workplace controversy.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDesiderio, on the other hand, said he had already enlisted an entirely different firm — O’Hagan Meyer<\/a> — to investigate Muller. His complaint notes that his non-Indian associate “was very upset by the allegation and denied” making a statement of a harassing nature to the woman employee.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTo address the alleged misconduct, Desiderio is demanding compensatory damages and punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish NCAI for its willful, deliberate, malicious and outrageous conduct and to deter NCAI, its executive committee members, and other employers from engaging in such misconduct in the future.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNCAI has been in such a position before when it comes to a former employee. Along with Indianz.Com and High Country News<\/a>, the inter-tribal advocacy organization successfully defeated a lawsuit filed by the non-Indian attorney John Dossett<\/a>, who claimed that public discourse about the sexual harassment allegations against him<\/a> damaged his reputation and his earning potential. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn the July 2020 ruling<\/a>, a federal magistrate noted that “allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace are in the public interest even if the allegations are disputed (and of course, they usually are).” \r\n

<\/p>\r\nDossett had sought $6 million from NCAI, Indianz.Com and High Country News, all of which had published stories about the turmoil. When it comes to Desiderio and his $5 million demand for damages, the organization is prepared to defend itself once again.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAsked for comment on the litigation, a spokesperson told Indianz.Com: \r\n“NCAI strongly denies Mr. Desiderio\u2019s characterization of the investigation initiated by NCAI\u2019s Executive Committee, and intends to defend vigorously against his lawsuit.”\r\n

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