The Keene Sentinel has been doing a good job of following harassment and discrimination allegations against the Cheshire Sheriffs from an employee. The charges involve multiple department employees and also include former Sheriff Richard “Dick” Foote. Looks like they have denied the allegations and are moving for a jury trial. Get the details in this story from the Sentinel.
Here’s the text of the article from the Sentinel’s Danielle Rivard:
The Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office is denying allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination outlined in a civil lawsuit an employee filed against the department in January.
Abbie Fox, a dispatcher for the department, claims in her six-page lawsuit that her employee rights were violated when some employees sexually harassed her, and that when she complained to the supervisor, he neglected to handle her complaints properly.
Fox was working for the department as of January, but no further information was available on her employment today.
Fox, who has been a dispatcher for the department since October 2010, is asking a federal court for an undisclosed amount of money in damages and a civil trial before a judge, according to the suit. The Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office is asking that the court dismiss Fox’s complaints and pay the attorney fees and expenses for the department, according to the department’s four-page response filed in U.S. District Court in Concord last month.
The “increasing pattern of unwanted and pervasive” harassment started in May 2011, when a male dispatcher told Fox she had done well in an existing sales position as “sex sells,” according to Fox’s lawsuit. Other claims listed in the suit include:
On May 21, 2011, there was conversation between a female dispatcher and the same male dispatcher who allegedly harassed Fox. The female dispatcher said to the male dispatcher, “I’ll show you my boobs if you broadcast this BOL.” When Fox complained to her co-workers, they told her “that’s the way it is,” according to court documents.
The behavior between the two other dispatchers continued “night after night,” according to court documents. Fox complained in October 2011. After an investigation, the female dispatcher was allowed to resign. As of January, the male dispatcher was still employed by the department. Fox said he continued to harass her after the other employee resigned.
Fox filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on Nov. 28, 2011, citing the department’s failure to comply with its own sexual harassment policy.
The department’s attorney, Jackson Lewis, denies Fox’s claim that once the department learned of Fox’s human rights suit, former sheriff Richard A. Foote told her she would need to have her lawyer ready, as they would be starting an investigation on her, according to court documents. Foote retired last year and ran unsuccessfully for the N.H. Senate.
Since Fox filed the suit, she said some of the employees of the department have been retaliating against her through demeaning public comments, singling her out for complaints and blaming her for issues that weren’t her fault, according to the suit. When she complained to Foote, the behavior only got worse and she feared she was “being set up for termination.”
In July 2012, Foote told Fox that she was creating a “hostile work environment,” according to Fox’s suit. This made Fox feel as if the department’s management didn’t want any more complaints and that her job was at risk, according to the suit.
Reached Tuesday, Foote said the sheriff’s office handled the whole incident properly. He declined to comment further about the allegations.
Last month, Lewis filed defensive arguments against Fox’s lawsuit. Lewis argued Fox did not suffer any damages as a result of the department’s actions; that she failed to provide a damage-worthy claim; and that if there are any damages found, Fox caused them herself by her own misconduct, according to court documents.
Furthermore, Lewis argues that the department used “reasonable care” to prevent and promptly correct any alleged harassment or discrimination and that Fox failed to take advantage of the preventive and corrective procedures.
Fox and the sheriff’s department are both requesting a jury trial.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for Friday morning in Concord.
