Court documents were filed on December 29 for a Temporary Protective Order against former Rossville Mayor Teddy Harris.
The petition with the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit is for a Stalking Temporary Protective Order and was filed by a city of Rossville employee, Mandy Holder, who works with the Rossville Senior Center. Multiple incidents of stalking and sexual harassment are cited in the petition stretching back to as early as 2014 during a trip with the Senior Center and as recently as December 7, 2023.
The alleged incidents include taking multiple pictures of Holder during the Senior Center trip, daily office visits, inappropriate sexual comments and questions about sexual preferences, repeatedly asking Holder to meet Harris, asking Holder to go home with Harris, being told she wouldn’t be disappointed if she went home with Harris, asking her to meet in his hotel room during a business conference in Savannah in 2019, and most recently asking her for a key to the Senior Center in order to meet with her alone as Harris’ term ended January 1 and he would no longer be Holder’s boss.
Holder says she reported Harris twice. Once to City Clerk Sherry Foster who allegedly spoke to Holder. Holder said Harris slowed down for awhile and then ramped up again. Holder then reported Harris to City Clerk Russanna Jenkins on December 7 of 2023.
Holder stated in the petition she had concerns because Harris was on the Meals on Wheels program as is his father and has access to organizations that could lead to her losing funding for the Senior Center and programs there. Holder also stated Harris is visiting the Senior Center when she is not there and speaking with employees and seniors, calling his behavior “intimidating”.
And additional document filed with the courts appointing Senior Judge Walter Mathews to the Holder v. Harris case. Appointing Mathews was necessary after all the judges of the Lookout Mountain Judicial District recused themselves from the case.
By: Summer Kelly
