6 supervisors suspended for noose

KENNER, La., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Six supervisors in a Louisiana parish have been suspended for ignoring racially charged objects, including a noose, displayed in an office for six years.

The objects also included a sign that said "Bill's Whipping Post" and a dartboard. They were removed from the office in the public works department in Jefferson Parish after a black employee took photographs of them, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune said.

The supervisors received suspensions of four to six weeks.

Terrence Lee, the black employee, has been suspended for three weeks for what parish officials say is unrelated rule violations. He is challenging the suspension, saying it is retaliation for his complaints of racial harassment.

The FBI is investigating possible civil rights violations, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard said.

"This is only the first lap of justice in what is going to be a marathon of a race," he said. "The many laps that are to follow are outside of our jurisdiction. In other words, a lot of what people are looking for, a lot of the answers that people are looking for, won't be known really until people take sworn oaths."