MEMPHIS — After an investigation, the Catholic Diocese of Memphis says “claims of racial bias and discrimination are unfounded” regarding allegations by two women that a priest discriminated against one of them by rejecting her as a house cleaner on the basis of race.

The Catholic Diocese released its conclusion Friday of the investigation regarding the incident in which Emily Weaver, a white woman who had cleaned the Rev. Jacek Kowal’s home, took LaShundra Allen, who is black, to the church and asked to enter the rectory to train Allen as her replacement.

There, the women were told by church staff, "I’m sorry, we are not trying to be rude, but the dog doesn’t like black people," according to a letter from the women’s attorney.

The statement from Bishop David Talley came in an email to area Catholics.

It described the parish staff as having said, “Fr. Jacek’s dog is kinda racist.”

“Although the parish staff member’s choice of words was highly unfortunate and imprecise — they were not motivated by racial animus,” Talley wrote. “Rather, the concern by all involved was the safety of these women, one of whom was a stranger to the dog, and they knew that attempting to crate the dog would be dangerous when its owner was not present.”

Talley’s letter said the staff at the Catholic Church of the Incarnation knew that Kowal’s dog, a German shepherd, was “somewhat more agitated initially around strangers with darker skin, until the dog gets to know them.”

“While the current housekeeper had been properly introduced to the dog by Fr. Kowal, he was not able to leave at that time to introduce his dog to the replacement employee,” the letter reads. “Fr. Kowal’s response would have been the same with respect to any new employee or visitor unknown by the dog, regardless of race or ethnicity.”

Weaver said that their visit was not unannounced, as Talley's letter said, but was her normal cleaning day.

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She also said that when she was first introduced to Ceaser, the dog, Kowal wasn't present, nor was Ceaser crated.

"Why wasn't LaShundra given the chance to get to know him?" Weaver asked. "Those staff represent a religion, a church, a school. In fact, one of the biggest Catholic organizations in the area. They're continuing to be disrespectful by attempting to brush the comments made off."

They plan to continue pursuing legal action, Weaver said.

In his last assignment as pastor, Kowal employed an African American housekeeper for the entire five years he was there, according to Talley’s letter.

But Weaver said they were never given another opportunity to return to Kowal's home with him present or the dog crated to introduce Allen.

"They never said maybe another day when Jacek had time," Weaver said.

Allen could not be reached for comment Friday.

According to the letter originally sent from the women’s attorney to the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, Kowal “made no effort to come meet Ms. Allen. He made no effort to correct any statement about his dog being a ‘racist.’

“The two church office employees then reiterated that Father Jacek ‘did not want (Ms. Allen) there’ and that they needed to leave. Both Ms. Allen and Ms. Weaver were shocked, humiliated, and felt severely disrespected by this treatment and the statements."

Follow Katherine Burgess on Twitter: @kathsburgess.