Eight women who were working as counselors or officers sued the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino, claiming they were subjected to rampant sexual harassment by male inmates and that state officials neglected to take any action after the incidents were reported.
Victims asserted that they worked in a sexually hostile environment at the facility, which houses about 800 men between the ages of 18 and 25. On repeated occasions, the men were exposing their genitals, performing acts on themselves, throwing urine on plaintiffs, and grabbing female employees by their buttocks or chests.
Unfortunately, even after filing the report, their superiors did nothing to stop the behavior.
Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the women said,
in many incidents where criminal sexual acts were inflicted on the female employees and reports were made by the victims, the cases were not referred to the district attorney for prosecution.
Bill Sessa, the Department of Corrections spokesperson, did not say anything about the lawsuit but stated that the agency is in the process of strengthening its disciplinary process.
