Posted: Saturday June 14, 2008 11:16AM; Updated: Saturday June 14, 2008 11:16AM
Suspended NASCAR officials accused of exposing themselves



CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Two suspended officials are the same two accused of exposing themselves to a former co-worker who has filed a $225 million lawsuit against NASCAR alleging racial discrimination and sexual harassment, the Associated Press has learned.

Tim Knox and Bud Moore have been placed on indefinite administrative paid leave.

NASCAR will not reveal the identities of the officials sent home Friday from Kentucky Speedway, but a person familiar with the investigation confirmed to AP on Saturday that Knox and Moore were suspended. The person requested anonymity because NASCAR's investigation is ongoing.

Mauricia Grant filed her suit Tuesday, alleging 23 specific incidents of sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of racial and gender discrimination during her time as a technical inspector for NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series.

Grant, who is black, claims her October 2007 firing was retaliation for complaining about the way she was treated on the job from her January 2005 hiring.

NASCAR chairman Brian France was expected to address the NASCAR investigation later Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, site of Sunday's Cup Series race.

NASCAR sent a team of investigators from its human resources and legal offices to Kentucky and did 27 interviews away from the track Thursday and Friday. Knox and Moore were found to have possibly engaged in behavior that violated NASCAR policy.

NASCAR did not give a reason for the men's suspension, but Grant's suit accuses both men of exposing themselves to her.

The lawsuit contends that at an April 2007 race in Texas, Knox exposed himself in the hospitality suite of their hotel at an officials gathering hosted by Nationwide Series director Joe Balash.

Moore is accused of coming out of his hotel room in Memphis in October 2006 clad only in a towel. The suit says he asked Grant if she wanted to see what was under the towel, opened it, then ducked behind a trash can.

In another incident, Grant claims Moore asked her how it felt to be black. Her suit claims Grant described being black as "a privilege," and Moore feigned confusion and wondered aloud "how can she be proud of being black?"

Moore also is accused of making lewd sexual advances toward Grant.

France has not addressed the validity of Grant's claims, but said the former official never made a formal complaint or followed NASCAR policy in reporting harassment.

Investigators have failed to uncover a single instance where Grant complained to her supervisors or other NASCAR employees about the way she was treated, and NASCAR plans to continue defending the organization against the lawsuit, the person familiar with the investigation told AP.

Grant has said she followed the chain of command all the way to Balash, but stopped short of telling human resources because she was reprimanded by that department for a separate incident two weeks after lodging her complaint. She said she viewed the reprimand, which included a threat of termination, as retaliation for complaining to Balash.

Named in the suit are Balash, assistant series director Mike Dolan, two supervisors, NASCAR's senior manager for business relations, the human resources director and 17 officials who were Grant's co-workers.

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A former racing official Mauricia Grant is suing NASCAR for $250 million, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

She said “I loved it. It was a great, exciting, adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world,”.“ But there was an ongoing daily pattern (of harassment). It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top.

32-year-old Grant, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her termination. In the lawsuit, she alleged she was referred to as “Nappy Headed Mo” and “Queen Sheba,” by workers.