Blue Grass Airport suspends security chief and officer for sexual harassment

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (WKYT) – Blue Grass Airport has suspended its chief of security and a security guard after they were found guilty of sexually harassing a co-worker, the Herald-Leader reports.

Marcus Brian Wainscott was suspended for seven days without pay, placed on probation and ordered to complete 40 hours of leadership training. Security guard Steven Hysell was also suspended for two days without pay.

According to the Herald-Leader, Wainscott’s superiors said this was due to “the current state of the department and (his) failure as a leader.”

An investigation found that during former President Donald Trump’s visit to Lexington, Hysell and Wainscott made inappropriate comments about the body of security guard Emily Stapleton, specifically joking that she had exposed her breasts to get Trump’s attention.

Investigators also found that Wainscott mocked Stapleton for bending down to pick up a coin. He reenacted her picking up a dropped coin by bending down and shaking his butt in the air.

“Blue Grass Airport does not tolerate sexual harassment in the workplace and is committed to creating a positive, respectful and supportive work environment,” Eric Frankl, the airport’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

“I was completely shocked by the content of the statements; they were completely random, unprovoked, and without my participation in the conversation,” Stapleton wrote in her harassment complaint.

Stapleton resigned from her position at Blue Grass Airport on August 7.

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