Cut Damages to $200G For Harassed Female CO;
DOCS Slow to Address Abuse:
By TOMMY HALLISSEY

A state appeals court July 10 reduced a State Division of Human Rights award to a Correction Officer who it concluded was sexually harassed at work because she is a lesbian.

The appellate court reduced Alicia S. Humig's award from $850,000 to $200,000. The court minimized Ms. Humig's claims of suffering because she only went to four counseling sessions and did not take any leave, nor was she prescribed any medication. The court said larger awards cited by Ms. Humig "involved far more pervasive discrimination and injuries that were far more severe than in the present case."

'Initial Award Excessive'

The state Department of Correctional Services will not appeal the case any further, said spokesman Erik Kriss. "We felt that the original award was grossly excessive," he said. "We were pleased that the appellate division reduced the award to less than a quarter of the original amount."

Ms. Humig, who still works at the Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison for men in upstate New York, alleged she was the victim of sexual harassment at the facility. A 14-year veteran of the department, she said her sexual orientation was "common knowledge" at work, where she was the only female in "D" block.

She alleged that Correction Officer Jim Wright harassed her by subjecting her to sexually offensive comments and threats of physical harm, as well as offensive drawings. CO Humig reported him, but the prison took no immediate action, according to court papers.

She filed written charges of harassment in September 2002 and June 2003, but she said she experienced retaliation afterwards.

In July 2002, Mr. Wright allegedly made false claims that Ms. Humig had an improper relationship with a male inmate, according to the lawsuit. He asked a supervisor to move an inmate because of her alleged misconduct. After Ms. Humig challenged Mr. Wright, he allegedly called her several different variations of lesbian slurs on a daily basis, prosecutors charged.

The Department of Correctional Services has a sexual orientation and sexual harassment policy. "... Any employee who believes he or she is being ... harassed should make a complaint to his or her supervisor or anyone in a management level position within the facility or work unit," the policy reads.

CO Humig made a report to a supervisor, a Sergeant Lambert, who stated, "He didn't want to hear it," according to prosecutors. She said she reported Mr. Wright on five or six occasions from July to August 2002.

The offensive actions did not stop, however.

Crude Scrawl

In July 2002, lesbian jokes were written across a public wall calendar in the prison. "The lesbian's on vacation," was scrawled across Ms. Humig's week off.

Ms. Humig suffered from increased stress, sleeping and eating difficulties and nosebleeds and needed counseling, her lawyers said.

The lawsuit contends the department ignored report after report she made of the harassment. But, in January 2003, DOCS's Office of Diversity Management began an investigation of CO Humig's written complaint four months earlier. An investigation concluded in June 2003 and Mr. Wright was given counseling. Despite that, according to her suit, Mr. Wright's harassment never ceased until he left for another position inside the facility.

Mr. Kriss said DOCS Commissioner Brian Fischer takes the allegations seriously and recently reminded Superintendents - jail wardens - to "not only be alert and aware of sexual harassment, but take appropriate action."

Found DOCS Liable

The State Division of Human Rights ruled in September that DOCS discriminated against Ms. Humig "by denying her equal terms, conditions and privileges of employment, by subjecting her to a hostile work environment, because she is gay and female."

The ruling established one of the largest compensatory awards by the Division of Human Rights in state history. "Wright's comments were shown to be persistent and relentless, and despite Humig's numerous written and verbal complaints to her superiors, the discriminatory behavior was not curtailed until Wright himself left for another position within the facility," the appellate decision stated.