DOJ, Sheriff Headed for Trial Over Sexual Harassment by Inmates

A trial is needed to determine whether “exhibitionist masturbation” and other harassment inmates in an Alabama jail directed at an estimated 250 female employees violated federal law.

Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran conceded that women who work or worked in direct contact with male inmates at the county jail belong to a protected class under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, that they were subjected to unwelcome harassment, and that the harassment was based on their sex, the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama said. He also conceded that the harassment was severe or pervasive, ...