NEWS
Sexual Harassment: San Bernardino,
California
ASSOCIATED PRESS. March 27, 2007
Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against youth
facility
SAN BERNARDINO Eight women who work at the
state's largest youth correctional facility filed
a lawsuit Tuesday, claiming they were subjected
to rampant sexual harassment by male inmates and
that state officials neglected to take any
action after the incidents were reported.
The lawsuit was filed against the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and
the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility
in Chino where the eight women worked as either
counselors or officers.
The suit seeks unspecified general and
compensatory damages. The women said they
worked in a sexually hostile environment at the
facility, which houses about 800 men between the
ages of 18 and 25. On repeated occasions, the
men were ?exposing their genitals, engaging in
masturbation, throwing urine on some
plaintiffs, along with assaulting some of the
female employees by grabbing their buttocks or
chests, the lawsuit said.
The women said they filed reports about the
sexual misconduct but allege their superiors did
nothing to curb the behavior.
In many incidents where criminal sexual acts
were inflicted on the female employees and
reports were made by the victims, the cases were
not referred to the district attorney for
prosecution, said attorney Gloria Allred, who
represents the women.
Bill Sessa, a Department of Corrections
spokesman, couldn't comment on the lawsuit but
said the agency is in the process of
strengthening its disciplinary process.
Sexual misconduct is something we don't
tolerate, Sessa said.
The suit comes after a report issued last month
by the state's Office of the Inspector General
that said the youth facility doesn't provide
safe conditions for offenders and fails to
provide mandated education and counseling.
The report also notes the facility's ability to
hold wards accountable for sexual misconduct,
such as exposing themselves to female staff
members, is hampered by ineffective or
inadequate punishment.
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