By Kyle Andersen
WFMZ-TV
EASTON, Pa. — A local corrections officer has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming she has been sexually harassed, and nothing has been done to fix the problem.
Janice Emery filed the suit against Northampton County, Northampton County Prison, Director of Corrections Robert Meyers and Warden Todd Buskirk on Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, Emery claims that at least since early 2008 she, and other female employees, have been subjected to sexual harassment by a supervisor.
According to the lawsuit, Emery has been an employee of the prison since 1990, and the lawsuit said the discrimination started in early 2008. In court paperwork, she claims that her supervisor made lewd comment and requests for sexual favors to her, other female employees working for him, as well as female inmates.
She also said she reported this behavior to the county and appropriate managers, and nothing was done about it. She further claims that because she reported it, she was denied a promotion in the fall of 2008.
Emery said that these actions caused her emotional stress and “has required her to be constantly vigilant so as to try and avoid contact with the harassing supervisor; puts her at unreasonable risk, given the inherently dangerous nature of her employment, of not receiving necessary backup from the harassing supervisor; and has caused her to lose income because she must refuse overtime assignments that might put her in contact with the harassing supervisor.”
In the lawsuit she seeks a permanent injunction to be filed prohibiting the county and prison from allowing any discrimination against female employees. She also seeks replacement of lost wages and other employment benefits she said she lost for not taking overtime, and damages for emotional distress.
Calls to the county, Buskirk and Meyers have not been returned.
Republished with permission from WFMZ-TV