Jury awards $2.15 million to nurse in DOC sexual harassment lawsuit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A jury awarded $2.15 million to a former nurse at the Jefferson City Correctional Center for claims of sexual harassment and retaliation against the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The jury awarded $2 million in punitive damages and $150,000 in compensatory damages, according to court documents and a press release.
Kathleen Newman worked for Corizon, LLC, a healthcare company that is contracted with the state to give medical treatment for offenders housed in DOC facilities.
Newman named Corizon, LLC, her former supervisors Collette Rogers and Wanda Laramore, the DOC, Sgt. James McKee and Corrections Officers Michael Redmon and Thomas Eslahi as defendants.
On Jan. 20, 2017, Newman was working in the prison infirmary when Redmon told her he had been working on his “capture room,” according to a press release.
When Newman did not know what he was talking about, Redmon allegedly said that his capture room was the place where he would take her, drug her and rape her. He also told Newman that “every girl wants to be roofied” and “most girls have rape fantasies,” the release stated.
McKee, who was also present and blocking Newman’s only exit from the infirmary, laughed at Redmon’s comments and egged him on.
McKee later shared Redmon’s harassment of Newman with another officer and prodded him to ask Newman about Redmon’s “capture room” as if it were a joke. The other officer told Newman to report Redmon for harassment, but McKee insisted it was “not a big deal” and told her she should not report him to DOC.
Newman did report Redmon’s conduct, after which was subjected to daily “rape jokes” from other corrections officers and retaliation by the warden and other jail personnel.
She filed a Charge of Discrimination on or about April 14, 2017, and filed the action on July 17, 2017. She rested her case on Nov. 16, 2022. The jury's verdict was given Nov. 18, while the judgement was entered on Tuesday, according to Casenet.
