People often picture harassment occurring in only the realm of an office, but that's not true. Sexual harassment can occur in practically any kind of workplace, unfortunately. For example, a woman who has worked for the Northampton County Prison since 1990 is suing the county, the director of corrections and a warden for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation.

The employee, a corrections officer for the prison, filed the lawsuit in federal court. She alleges she and other employees were subjected to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment for a period of years. She claims at least one of her supervisors made unwanted sexual remarks and requests for favors, while managers attempted to cover up the harassment of women.

According to the lawsuit, the woman's complaints to prison officials about the harassment were ignored. It doesn't stop there: she says after she complained to Northampton County officials about the harassment and retaliation, she was passed over for a promotion. According to sources, she was also apparently denied a transfer to another department to escape the behavior.

The corrections officer, who is from Bethlehem, says prison officials regularly discriminated against female employees, including by denying them work opportunities in favor of their male counterparts. She says other female employees have logged complaints as well.

She is reportedly seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. She's also asking for an injunction that would prevent prison officials from engaging in any further discriminatory employment actions. According to one report, prison officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Source: The Express-Times, "Corrections officer claims she was sexually harassed," Michael Buck, 23 May 2011