MOBILE COUNTY SHERIFF FAILED TO ADDRESS HARASSMENT BY MALE INMATES
On May 15, 2023, the United States Department of Justice announced that it a secured provisional approval of a $2 million settlement with the office of the Sheriff of Mobile County, Alabama.
The agreement resolves a civil lawsuit wherein the DOJ alleged that female corrections officers were “regularly subjected to severe and pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace by male inmates and that the sheriff’s office failed to take prompt and effective action to remedy this harassing conduct.”
In a written statement, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, noted, “The Justice Department brought this litigation to bring an end to the hostile work environment faced by women employed at the Mobile County Metro Jail …. The court’s action will help ensure that impacted female employees receive the relief that they rightly deserve.”
In addition to monetary compensation for the officers named in the lawsuit, a $1.41 million settlement fund will be established to compensate other women harmed by the misconduct. The Sheriff’s office has also agreed to modify its practices so that the instances of such harassment are reduced.
Does this case give new meaning to the phrase: house of correction?
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