BY SEAN O'SULLIVAN
The News Journal
08/26/2005
A female Delaware correctional officer claims a male co-worker pressured her to have sex while on duty, and that when she rebuffed the advances she became the target of rumors and was humiliated by the dissemination of pornographic pictures purported to be of her.
On Thursday, Karen Brandewie filed a federal civil lawsuit charging sexual and racial harassment by her co-workers and indifference by supervisors.
When the incidents were reported, Brandewie said she was told to ignore the harassment because it was "a common occurrence for female officers ... when they first arrive."
Department of Correction spokesperson Beth Welch said the department does not comment on pending litigation.
The state Labor Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission both found "reasonable cause" in the complaints filed by Brandewie, according to exhibits filed with the suit.
Brandewie's attorney Ronald Poliquin said his client remains employed with the Department of Correction but has been traumatized by the incidents. He said the sexual rumors about her and pornographic pictures were spread to the prison population, putting her in danger on the job. Brandewie denies in the suit that she is the person in the photos.
According to the suit, Brandewie began working for the department in 2000 and the harassment began in 2003 when a fellow correctional officer propositioned her "numerous times" for sex. "Specifically, he asked if she would have sex with him in the watchtower," according to the suit.
The officer accused Brandewie in an e-mail of refusing to have sex with him. A copy of the e-mail is included as an exhibit with the lawsuit. Shortly after the e-mail, rumors spread that Brandewie was featured on a pornographic Web site, according to the lawsuit.
Photos from the site were circulated throughout the prison, Brandewie claims, and left openly on a desk at the Sussex Correctional Institution.
Brandewie said she was repeatedly asked about the photos, copies were left on her desk and officers at Sussex regularly visited the Web site using prison computers.
One supervisor told Brandewie, according to the suit, that the matter "should be addressed 'in-house." An internal affairs investigation was conducted, but according to the suit no one was reprimanded.
Poliquin said the department's inaction is particularly puzzling given that Delaware Department of Transportation recently dismissed employees for using state computers allegedly to view inappropriate material. "In the age we are living in, this is pretty outrageous behavior especially considering what happened in DelDOT and the problems at the Department of Correction in the past," he said.
Brandewie claims sexual harassment, racial discrimination and retaliation. She is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses and other related costs. She also wants the court to order the department to correct its unlawful practices.
Contact Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com.
