On May 3rd, a new filing reveled Sheriff Tom Dart disregarded women’s complaints and neglected to take action to address disturbing pervasive sexual harassment by inmates. The proposed class action is being led by Chicago law firms – Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym; Kulwin, Masciopinto, and Kulwin – and Washington D.C. based Mehri & Skalet. The proposed class action represents about two thousand women employed as correctional officers, sheriff deputies, paramedics, nurses, and in other jobs who reported pervasive sexual harassment by inmates that includes indecent exposure, exhibitionist masturbation, groping and threats of sexual violence.“We are proud to represent almost 400 women who are taking a stand to hold the sheriff accountable for criminal sexual misconduct by inmates at the Jail. Our clients are heroic women responsible for the safety and security of the Jail and for providing health care to inmates,” said Marni Willenson, co-counsel. “All women working in these critical public safety positions should be able to do their jobs without being degraded and sexually harassed. Public data on sexual misconduct incidents is available for the California state prison system. The rate of reported sexual misconduct incidents against employees at the Cook County Jail was four to seven times greater than in the California prisons. However, the women in the Cook County lawsuit allege that incidents at Cook County Jail are severely underreported because Sheriff’s Office allowed the inmates to escape any real consequences for sexual misconduct. When women reported the disturbing behavior to their superiors, they often were told it was part of the job.Since the 2017 injunction, women continue to face sexual harassment at the jail as the county and sheriff's office have refused to take adequate steps to curtail the extreme harassment.For question about the filing, please contact Caryn Lederer. CLICK HERE to read the full press release.
