• 21
  • October
    2011

A health center involved in furnishing medical and mental health services to prison inmates has become embroiled in sexual harassment, retaliation and race discrimination lawsuits filed by employees. No less than seven employee lawsuits are pending, with an eighth about to commence. Sadly, such sexual harassment claims are frequently filed by employees in California.

In the new suit, plaintiffs include a Latino worker, a male of Arab national origin, several African-Americans and a number of women. The health care center employs hundreds of workers, including nurses, therapists, counselors and social workers. They provide mental health and medical services to approximately 17,000 prisoners in 18 correctional and detention facilities, including both prisons and jails.

Among the claims in the lawsuit are allegations by female employees that they have experienced a hostile work environment due to sexual harassment from male coworkers, and that management failed to take effective corrective action to remedy the problem.

One nurse claimed that a counselor at work told her "there goes your part time job" when a news item appeared on television about a crackdown on Internet advertising by prostitutes. The same counselor allegedly then lifted up the nurse's smock.

While the counselor was suspended briefly, he was soon back at work, and he was assigned to work on an afternoon through evening shift where the same nurse was the only other employee on duty. The nurse later allegedly learned that he had previously been accused of making racially derogatory statements to a co-worker, and that management had found these accusations credible, but had failed to that date to take any disciplinary action against the counselor.

Source: Hartford Courant, "Workplace Lawsuits Hit UConn Health Center Prison Program," Oct. 16, 2011