USDA staffer stuns agency gala by publicly accusing supervisor of dangling promotion for sex

High drama unfolded last week when a USDA employee accused a supervisor of offering a promotion for sex. (Reuters)

An Agriculture Department employee reportedly stunned an audience of co-workers at a Black History Month event last week by taking the stage and publicly naming a supervisor she claims offered her a promotion in exchange for sex.

The Washington Post reported that Rosetta Davis named the supervisor and gave an emotional account of their interactions – before she was led backstage, shouting.

The USDA reportedly then put her on administrative leave and told her not to use agency facilities or contact USDA workers to discuss her employment.

Davis already had filed a lawsuit in federal court detailing her claims, before revealing her story to an audience of peers.

“I agreed to the sex,” she explained to The Post in a separate interview.

Davis claims she and the supervisor had a relationship for eight months, but she ended it after the supervisor sought an act “she considered unnatural,” according to The Post.

The lawsuit reportedly alleges she then became the target of sexual harassment and “brutal retaliation” – and never got that promotion.

While the case has been in the courts for months, her surprise announcement at the agency event brought it out into the open, amid a climate where women across government and the private sector are speaking out on sexual harassment.

One employee in attendance told the Post the audience was “shellshocked.”

Asked for comment, a USDA spokesperson told Fox News in a statement that while the employee is on paid leave "pending a review" of last week's incident, she was not suspended.

"Beyond that, we cannot comment on personnel issues or issues that are currently the subject of litigation. However, as a matter of departmental policy, USDA takes all claims of harassment very seriously. Our goal is to treat people fairly with a process that is transparent, objective and consistent," the official said.