Man sues over penis and vagina-shaped pasta

A Fire Department official in Phoenix, Arizona,who reprimanded workers for graffiti of "a penis and testicles" at a fire station claims he suffered retaliation via interoffice mail: "two small pieces of pasta," one shaped like a penis and one like a vagina, with his name on the vagina.

Frank Cheatham is suing the city of Phoenix in Federal Court. He seeks a jury trial. Cheatham, a deputy chief shift commander with 24 years on the job, claims he "admonished" supervisors for "specifically, two depictions of a penis and testicles-openly displayed in the workplace at Fire Station 1." This was in November 2009.



Cheatham says the graffiti created a sexually hostile workplace and he "admonished the supervisors at Fire Station 1 that such drawings were inappropriate and would not be tolerated in the future." Then came the retaliation, Cheatham says in the complaint. "Soon thereafter, Chief Cheatham received a large brown envelope in interoffice mail containing two small pieces of pasta, one of which resembled a penis and the other of which resembled a vagina.

"The piece of pasta resembling a vagina had Chief Cheatham's first name ('Frank') written on it. Cheatham was later effectively demoted from his position as deputy chief shift commander of south shift command and transferred to the department's "Safety Division," He is suing the city for violating his federal civil rights by creating a sexually hostile work environment.