Former Zulu president sues the Carnival organization

15th October 2018   ·   0 Comments

Naaman Stewart, the former president and King-elect of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, recently filed a petition against the historically Black Carnival organization seeking to be reinstated as a full-fledged member and King-elect of the upcoming Carnival season.

Stewart, who has been a member of the organization for more than two decades, was indefinitely suspended from the organization and stripped of the title of King-elect after he was accused by a former Zulu club employee of sexual harassment.

The alleged incident was reported to have occurred in one of the club’s restrooms and was made public by The New Orleans Advocate and WWL News after it was recorded on the cellphone of the former female employee, Gemell Hulbert.

In his recent petition. Stewart said Zulu violated several of its bylaws when it suspended his membership and removed him as king this summer.

Naaman Stewart said Zulu’s board of directors voted to suspend him at a July 18 meeting, and members voted to replace him as king at an Aug. 5 meeting.

He was elected king over the Memorial Day Weekend as is customary and confirmed July 1.

The decision to suspend him indefinitely and replace him as king came after Gemell Hulbert filed a civil lawsuit June 29 alleging Stewart followed her into a club bathroom and refused to let her leave unless she showed him her breasts and had sex with him. The alleged encounter happened in June 2015, according to her lawsuit.

In a subsequent lawsuit, several other Zulu members and the organization itself also are named defendants. Hulbert alleges that members of the organization used harassment and intimidation tactics after she was fired by the Zulu club. In a second lawsuit she said several members tried to intimidate her by showing up to her work wearing “I am with Naaman” t-shirts and telling her she should forget about the incident.

After a judge dismissed sexual assault and battery claims in Hulbert’s civil lawsuit against Stewart to Sept. 14 as the one-year statute of limitations had expired, she filed a supplemental petition for damages on Sept. 28.

Nola.com/The Times-Picayune reported that she made the same allegations under several claims, including invasion of privacy, harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and collusion.

There has been some speculation that the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club took steps to resolve the issue in order to avoid corporate sponsorship of Zulu Carnival events like the Annual Ball and Lundi Gras from becoming a problem.

A spokesman for the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure declined to comment on Stewart’s petition when contacted by The Louisiana Weekly Wednesday.

A hearing on the issue was set for Thursday, Oct. 11. At that hearing, a trial date was set for Nov. 15.

A stone-faced Stewart left the Civil District Courthouse Thursday without uttering a word to the media but his attorney confirmed that his client wants very much to reinstated as both a member of Zulu in good standing and its King-elect.

This article originally published in the October 15, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.