PORTLAND – A lawsuit filed by the attorneys of a former Knox County Jail corrections officer who said she was sexually harassed by a coworker for three years is heading to trial in June.

The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 8, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Portland. Magistrate Judge John Rich III issued the scheduling order that the suit was ready for trial June 6.

Knox County has denied the woman’s allegations and said that she fails to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted.

The woman, 73, worked as a part-time corrections officer at the Knox County Jail in Rockland from July 2017 until her employment was terminated in June 2020. She said that she met or exceeded performance expectations during her employment, according to the lawsuit.

After her termination, she filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission who determined that she had exhausted the necessary administrative remedies and otherwise met all conditions before filing the suit. The Commission issued her a “notice of a right to sue” letter in July 2021.

According to the lawsuit, during her first year of the woman’s employment, one of her coworkers allegedly began sexually harassing her at work. She claims the coworker consistently made sexual comments about her body and his own body and openly discussed his sex life, despite her telling him that she did not want to hear about it.

On one occasion, the coworker: “cornered Plaintiff in a closet and closed the door. He pushed his body against Plaintiff’s body, trapping her,” the suit said. The Plaintiff said she shouted at the coworker, among other exclamations, to stop, the lawsuit claims.

She then reported what happened to her supervisor, a woman, who shared that the man had touched her breast and also had made sexual comments to her in the past.

The supervisor told the woman that was “just the way (he) was,” court documents said. Although the supervisor told the woman she would “take care of it,” nothing was done to address the Plaintiff’s report, the lawsuit alleges.

Over the subsequent months, the woman said the coworker continued to sexually harass her, including touching her buttocks, blocking her path so that she had to squeeze by him, and making comments about his sex life. The woman said that she continued to report his conduct, this time to her direct supervisor and an additional one.

The woman claims that neither one took any action to address her reports and the coworker’s conduct persisted. She also said the man mocked and belittled about her age and on several occasions, other coworkers and supervisors asked her when she was going to retire. They called her “grandma” or “g-ma,” and told her that she was “too old” to be working at the jail. She claims that a grievance would be submitted, but nothing ever came of it, according to the lawsuit.

Toward the end of May 2020, the woman reported to her assigned post in the medium security area of the jail and was told she was reassigned to the minimum security area, where female inmates are housed, the lawsuit said. The Plaintiff said she was not told why she was being reassigned.

The woman said that two female inmates told her the man had sexually harassed one of them. When the inmates reported the harassment to a supervising officer, he reassigned the man to the medium security area of the jail.

In early June 2020, the woman sent a Facebook message to a coworker, expressing her frustration that, despite her many reports about the man’s alleged unacceptable sexual conduct, and multiple reports from female inmates about him, her supervisors did not take any “meaningful action” to address his behavior.

Later that day, she said she was confronted by the jail administration about her Facebook message and was told she was creating a “toxic work environment” by speaking out and was terminated, according to the lawsuit.

Knox County agreed that she was a part time employee, but only on a per diem basis and not on a continuous basis.

The attorneys for the county, in their response to the complaint, invoke the “Faragher-Ellerth” defense doctrine that stipulates the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior, no tangible adverse employment action was taken against the plaintiff and the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to otherwise avoid harm.

The lawsuit seeks to have the woman reinstated to her job or front pay in lieu of reinstatement, and compensatory damages for mental anguish, loss of dignity and other intangible injuries determined by a jury along with attorney’s fees and all costs.

Attorneys representing the woman are Andrew P. Cotter and James A. Clifford of Clifford & Clifford in Kennebunk.

Knox County is represented by attorneys Peter T. Marchesi and Claudia S. Shaffer of Wheeler & Arey, P.A. in Waterville.

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com