Asian American Commission Hit With Lawsuit

An Olympia woman has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the state Asian American Affairs Commission, claiming she applied for a position as a clerk but was offered a job to pose in lingerie instead.

Erin Brown alleges she was offered the modeling job during a Sept. 20 interview with Assistant Director Manmeet Ahluwalia.

Brown said she was told there were no job openings with the commission, but Ahluwalia allegedly informed her about a $4,000 contract to create an overseas catalog featuring summer wear. Ahluwalia allegedly asked whether he could photograph her for $200 in swimsuits and lingerie.

Brown’s lawsuit, filed last week in Thurston County Superior Court, seeks $100,000 in damages.

Ahluwalia has resigned from his position.

The commission hired an outside investigator to look into the claims.

According to Brown’s attorney, Shawn Newman, the investigation confirmed the facts of the incident but attributed the misunderstanding to cultural differences since Ahluwalia is a Sikh from India.

But Newman strongly disagreed with that argument.

“There’s no way that you can explain away what occurred there on cultural differences,” Newman said. “You tell me what culture explains a high-level public official sitting in a public office telling a prospective job applicant … to pose in lingerie.”