Cecil the Lion Update: The American dentist sought by Zimbabwe police this week for unlawfully luring a popular and protected lion from its African sanctuary earlier in July, so to kill it, is reportedly in hiding now.
That breaking news arises just as court documents have surfaced online concerning a 2009 complaint of sexual harassment filed by Dr. Walter Palmer’s longtime female receptionist at his Minneapolis dental practice.
In the unidentified woman’s legal papers she alleged that, from 1999 to 2005, the obnoxious trophy-hunter relentlessly subjected her to “verbal comments and physical conduct involving her breasts, buttocks, and genitalia” while on the job and in spite of her repeated warnings for him to stop.
Allegedly, when his employee finally reported the matter to the authorities, Dr. Palmer fired her in retaliation.
The sexual harassment suit was ultimately settled in his victim’s favor for $127,500 compensation, and the deviant dentist was required to undergo additional training sessions to keep his medical license, which included at least one refresher course in ethics.
Lapses in ethical conduct appear to be a recurring theme for the assassin of Cecil the lion, who, as a result of the illegal safari he staged in Africa this month, is now being hunted himself on charges of poaching.
Palmer’s gotten himself in a very similar criminal fix at least once before -- in 2008 he pled guilty in Wisconsin to felony charges related to illegally shooting a black bear within its protected habitat, as well as to tampering with its carcass so the kill would seem legit.
Similar to the horrific abuse Cecil endured, Palmer also took the slain animal to another location where shooting it would have been considered a lawful “big game” kill, then repeatedly lied about doing so to suspicious investigators.
Only a few years later, the doctor would be one of a trio of men who -- by cover of darkness -- enticed a famed and beloved big cat to leave the safety of its own extensive territory and pride by dragging bloody meat behind their vehicles.
Then, once the unsuspecting Cecil did enter their private property, he was intentionally blinded with massive floodlights so Dr. Palmer could *legally* kill the confused animal with a crossbow.
Palmer’s aim was crappy, of course -- the underlying reason for such an elaborate setup -- and thus badly-wounded Cecil had to be tracked by a professional hunter, who, some 40 hours later, shot him to death.
According to a spokesman for Zimbabwe’s national Conservation Task Force, the group then decapitated the majestic lion, skinned him, and attempted to either hide or destroy the evidence, including Cecil’s GPS collar.
Now, perhaps to prove just how ethically challenged he really is, Dr. Walter Palmer is claiming he “didn’t know” any of these actions were wrong, let alone unlawful.
Regardless, he and his cohorts are facing the prospect of criminal prosecution for the cruel and cowardly crime they perpetrated in the name of “sport.”
