Kurt Erickson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY — A new report shows the state paid nearly $320,000 in October to a former probation officer who said she was sexually harassed by one of her bosses.
It is the latest in an expensive string of harassment claims filed against the state’s Department of Corrections, which was facing more than 30 pending cases at this time last year.
According to the Missouri attorney general’s office, former probation and parole officer Felicia Mitchell of Hayti was paid $319,000 after a Dunklin County jury sided with her in a case dating to 2012.
Mitchell complained about being sexually harassed by one of her supervisors and later alleged she was poisoned in retaliation. Her story was featured as part of a series on problems in the prison system by The Pitch, a Kansas City newspaper.
Records show Mitchell’s attorney, Doug Ponder of St. Louis, will receive $154,000 of the money.
The award brings the total amount paid out by the agency since 2012 for dozens of similar discrimination cases to over $7.8 million.
The high number of incidents and the cost to taxpayers spurred hearings last year by members of a House panel, who urged new DOC Director Anne Precythe to turn around the agency’s culture.
In March, Precythe moved to replace a number of top administrators in the state’s central office, as well as in some of the state’s 21 prisons.
Amid a call for more transparency in the amount of money being paid out in settlements, Attorney General Josh Hawley agreed to post monthly reports online beginning in January.
In addition, Auditor Nicole Galloway investigated all department settlements following a Post-Dispatch report that a former Department of Conservation director was still being paid after leaving his post in June.
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