Over 500 female prison workers from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons have negotiated a multimillion-dollar sexual harassment settlement. The class-action plaintiffs have been involved in the litigation of a lawsuit alleging that they were subjected to sexual harassment by inmates and managers at their prison workplaces.
According to one employee, the sexual harassment was ongoing and constant. She said that it was not merely something that happened once a month. It was never-ending. Even worse, if employees complained they were tortured with gropings, gestures and inappropriate comments. They were also subjected to threats of rape from inmates, who would yell such threats to female employees throughout the prison.
Nevertheless, the lawsuit claims that management at the prisons would merely ignore such incidents and that they tossed incident reports into the garbage. Now, following years of litigation and negotiation, the plaintiffs have reached a $20 million settlement regarding the abuse. The sexual harassment settlement is the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
According to an attorney representing the plaintiffs, they are happy with the outcome. However, the attorney does not believe that any level of compensation will match the level of hardship endured by the plaintiffs in the case. In addition to the $20 million settlement, the Bureau of Prisons also agreed to improve harassment complaint tracking, offer psychological help to inmates that engage in sexual misconduct, and maintain a zero-tolerance policy as it applies to harassment by inmates.
No Miami, Florida, employee should ever have to endure sexual harassment conditions in his or her place of employment. If you are being subjected to this kind of cruel abuse, you may want to reach out to a Florida employment law attorney to put the abuse to a stop once and for all.
Source: WFTV, “$20 million to be paid to women claiming sexual harassment, cover-up at Florida prison,” Jeff Deal, Feb. 13, 2017
