Corrections Department sued for sexual harassment

A Camden County woman who worked as a nurse at the Jefferson City Correctional Center has filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually harassed while working for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, Kathleen Newman said Corrections officer Michael Redmon told her on Jan. 20 he had a "capture room where he promised to take her, drug her and rape her."

Newman said Redmon's supervisor, Sgt. James McKee, encouraged him and laughed at the comments. Newman also claims McKee blocked a door leading out of the room, making it hard for her to leave. She later threatened to report the comments, but McKee said the comments were "not a big deal."

Newman did follow through and made a report about McKee's alleged comments. Afterward, she said, she was harassed and retaliated against at JCCC, and the Corrections Department and Corizon LLC, the company that hired her, did not fully investigate the harassment. She claims the retaliation caused her to be constructively discharged from her position in April.

The lawsuit lists Redmon and McKee, the Department of Corrections, Corizon LLC and three other individuals as defendants.