By C1 Staff
MERCER, Pa. – A former state Pennsylvania corrections officer has filed a civil-rights lawsuit claiming that she became the target of a brutal campaign of gender discrimination and sexual harassment after allegedly angering coworkers by taking time off to deal with an injury.
Philly.com reports that Amanda Kulkin, 34, had to resign from her job at the State Corrections Institution-Mercer after the workplace became intolerable.
“It was every day, consistent harassment until I just couldn’t go to work,” Kulkin said. “I had complete anxiety even walking into that place.”
Kulkin said the bullying began in June 2012 after she took leave from her job as a yard officer after suffering a non-work-related knee-injury.
Someone posted a mock news article on a password-protected website for state corrections employees days later, lambasting Kulkin for taking time off and calling her “a festering wound in the taxpayers’ side.”
When Kulkin returned to work in July, she was reassigned to several less desirable positions and frequently moved around mid-shift.
She also says that when she approached a supervisor, he told her to not press the issue “or I’m going to give you all the s—t spots.”
Other forms of harassment that Kulkin was subjected to include a false transfer request to an all-female prison, insulting signs and posters posted around SCI-Mercer, and copies of an incident report altered to read “hurt feelings report.” She was also subjected to a daily barrage of sexually charged taunts from coworkers and supervisors.
She reported all of this to her supervisors, but no one was ever disciplined in connection with any of the incidents. Kulkin eventually took leave September 30, 2012, and resigned on November 27.
Kulkin has since moved to Florida and taken a lower-paying position as a private security officer.
She is asking for more than $75,000 in damages to compensate her for her lost wages, legal fees, humiliation, and “severe emotional and psychological distress.”
She also hopes that the state DOC will reevaluate their policies in dealing with employee complaints.
“They shouldn’t turn their cheek to what’s going on. It’s putting people in danger who are there to protect the public.”