A gay correctional officer at the Allegheny County Jail endured months of harassment and discrimination for refusing to be a part of the jail’s misogynistic culture, she claimed in a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in November, and detailed in an interview last week.
Male correctional officers and supervisors participated in “sexist and homophobic displays” that included discussions about the “sexual prowess” of female correctional officers, how women who are raped “really want it to happen,” and how women can’t defend themselves, “especially when they’re hit,” correctional officer Nicole Jones, 28, of Dormont alleges in the 12-page complaint.
Ms. Jones, who is gay, said her colleagues regularly spoke about how she wanted to “be a man and take testosterone.”
She claims in her complaint that jail administrators retaliated against her after she refused to participate in such conversations and reported some of the issues to human resources.
The retaliation ranged from someone vandalizing her locker with the word “liar” to another correctional officer telling her that no one was going to back her up if she needed help while overseeing a pod of about 100 inmates, according to the complaint.
“Honestly, flat out, it’s because I’m a strong female, something in corrections they don’t like,” she said in a Thursday interview. “They don’t like a woman out of her quote-unquote ‘place.’ It’s an issue within law enforcement, predominately in corrections.”
Allegheny County’s human resources director, Laura Zaspel, said in a statement Thursday that the county does not comment on lawsuits or legal complaints, but said the county takes every complaint seriously.
“We want to be clear that Allegheny County strives to provide a work environment that promotes respect,” she said in the statement. “Harassment and retaliation are strictly prohibited and not tolerated in this workplace.”
Ms. Jones alleges in her complaint that the county did nothing to stop the harassment she experienced. She said the worst of the retaliation came from majors, captains and deputy wardens -— people who outranked her.
Ms. Jones was suspended without pay in November 2017 after an incident with an inmate on the pod she was guarding, according to the complaint. Ms. Jones told inmates on the pod to shut the door to their cells, and one inmate shouted, “Shut up, [expletive].” Ms. Jones could not see who spoke, according to the complaint.
“In order to re-establish control, Ms. Jones responded by saying, ‘Man up and come say that to my face,’” the complaint reads. At that point, an inmate approached her desk —- which is prohibited — and refused her orders to return to his cell.
She radioed for backup, a captain responded, and the inmate returned to his cell. The captain then yelled at Ms. Jones for needing assistance, according to the complaint.
Ms. Jones wrote a report about the incident and was then suspended without pay for violating the jail’s rules against “gross disrespect to fellow employees and inmates,” according to the EEOC complaint. The county claimed Ms. Jones unduly escalated that situation when she demanded that the inmate “man up,” and noted that she “aggressively pointed,” according to Ms. Jones’ complaint. She was reinstated in March and granted back pay.
That was one of several incidents Ms. Jones detailed in her complaint. Others included a supervisor sending her home for her haircut, which he said violated jail policy, and a supervisor hesitating to send her for medical care after she ingested a powdered substance while searching an inmate’s cell.
Ms. Jones said Thursday she hopes that filing the complaint will help to change the jail’s culture and empower other women to come forward about harassment they have experienced while working at the jail.
“I want to see actual change not only within my facility but corrections, as well,” she said. “I want [these jail supervisors] out of my field. I don’t want them going to another facility where they can continue to hurt officers and hurt inmates and hurt my field.”
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury on Twitter.
First Published: December 21, 2018, 5:00 p.m.
