High Cost of Sexual Harassment
Middlesex County will pay almost $1 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by five female sheriff’s officers against the county and sheriff’s department. You can see by these numbers how expensive sexual harassment complaints can be. The settlement – reached last May – awarded $522,980 to Officers Laury Hamilton, Eileen Mazzei, Gail Decibus-Cuffe, Janet Martinez, and Donna Karlson. As part of the settlement, the county also agreed to pay $327,020 in legal fees.
According to details in the lawsuit the five women were subjected to sexual harassment by various members of the Sheriff’s Office. The workers who did the sexual harassment were supervisors and also co-workers. The county did not take the complaints seriously--I bet they do now. The county disputes the validity of the complaints and claims to be settling because of the high cost of litigation.
