The Diocese of Memphis is defending a Tennessee priest accused of denying a job to a black housekeeper.
Fr. Jacek Kowal denied LaShundra Allen entrance to the church rectory because he could not be available to introduce her to his dog. Church staff relayed the message to Allen, blaming Kowal’s “kinda racist” dog.
The cleaning company has since cut ties with the church, and Allen has sued both Kowal and the church for denying her a job based on race. She also demanded the Diocese of Memphis investigate Kowal.
“Although the parish staff member’s choice of words was highly unfortunate and imprecise — they were not motivated by racial animus,” said Bishop David Talley of Memphis in an Aug. 16 letter, sent after a church investigation of the incident.
Allen interpreted the staffer’s comments to be an excuse for denying her work because of her skin color.
On the day of the incident, Kowal’s regular housekeeper, who is white, came to the church and announced that she was quitting. She brought along her replacement to train her in cleaning the pastor’s quarters. At the time, Kowal was busy with church matters and was not free to crate his dog, a distrustful German shepherd.
Church staffers knew that Kowal’s dog could act aggressively toward people it did not know. They also knew of an incident years earlier when a black person threatened the dog, for which reason the dog had grown especially suspicious of people “with darker skin,” according to the bishop.
“The concern by all involved was the safety of these women, one of whom was a stranger to the dog, and they knew that attempting to crate the dog would be dangerous when its owner was not present,” the bishop said. “Their concern was to prevent the cleaning company employees from being injured.”
The cleaning employees said that Kowal did not attempt to contact them afterward to set up a time for introducing Allen to the dog. It remains unclear if Kowal knew how church staff had characterized his dog to the housekeepers.
