Protective Orders Issued Against Local Pet Groomer

Protective orders have been issued against a local dog groomer by some of his former employees.

Nicholas Rawlinson with BarksTail HairForce was arrested July 29, 2016, on obscenity and sexual battery charges. Sources have sent us the following information in an email:

To Whom It May Concern:

For the past year a Benton business owner has harassed his employees. In July, five of the female employees went to the Bossier Parish Sheriff's office to report the abuse. Nicholas Rawlinson was arrested the next day at the business he owns Barkstail HairForce on Benton Rd. He was held on $100,000 bond for obscenity (see booking records for July 29th 2016), that was later reduced to $50,000 since the sexual battery charge attached to it was nolle pros'd (not prosecuted due to the time to report etc -see Sept.14th Protection order hearing at Bossier parish Court- Judge Bolin docket). When arrested he was given a No Contact order by the arraignment judge, which was upheld until the hearing September 14th, then the protective orders were upheld for 6 months, with the exception that the courts cannot keep Mr. Rawlinson from the business he solely owns. His criminal hearing is set for Sept. 20th. As a result, the victims were constructively discharged by way that they were subject to a gender biased hostile work environment. Unfortunately, Title VII of the Civil Rights act does not protect employees from sexual harassment or retaliation when the business has less than 15 employees, as in this case (per Shreveport attorney Allison Jones, who specializes in these types of cases). As a result, five individuals have been harassed/abused and then constructively discharged, and have no rights for a civil remedy under the Civil Rights Act.