It all came down to what was in her hand – and no one could agree
A Louisiana court has upheld the reinstatement of a fired supervisor after her public employer failed to prove a workplace violence allegation.
The Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit of Louisiana on March 10, 2026, affirmed a Civil Service Commission decision reinstating Sadra Hamilton, a billing department supervisor at the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, after finding her employer failed to prove the core allegation behind her firing.
Hamilton had worked at the Board since 2011 without a single disciplinary mark. That changed after an October 12, 2023, workplace confrontation with Lanitra Neveaux, a subordinate probationary employee she supervised.
The trouble started the day before. On October 11, Hamilton and two other supervisors met with Neveaux to address ongoing performance problems – attendance issues, dress code violations, cell phone policy breaches, and, according to testimony, sleeping at her desk with a blanket over her head. Later that day, Hamilton began receiving threatening text messages from an unknown number that could not be traced. She reported the messages and told her employer she feared for her safety. She believed the texts came from Neveaux.
The next day, Neveaux arrived late. Hamilton moved to a different desk to keep her distance. It did not help. Neveaux aggressively approached Hamilton, cursing and yelling, and had to be physically restrained by co-workers roughly twenty...
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