Baltimore County Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit With DOJ

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement with Baltimore County this week after the federal agency accused the Baltimore County Fire Department of sexually harassing female employees and subjecting them to a hostile work environment.

According to a Department of Justice news release, the settlement provides $275,000 in compensation to female employees harmed by the harassment. The fire department must also overhaul its process for investigating sexual harassment complaints, provide sexual harassment training to its employees and conduct a workplace climate survey to aid in the process.

“Women deserve protection from sexual harassment and sex discrimination in the workplace, and this lawsuit and consent decree demonstrate the department’s commitment to that principle,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. “Addressing sexual harassment in the firefighting industry is critical to efforts to bring more women into a profession where they have faced historic rates of exclusion, marginalization and discrimination.”

According to a complaint filed by federal authorities in the District of Maryland, a male employee with the Baltimore County Fire Department distributed nude and other inappropriate photographs of female employees to other coworkers. According to the complaint, he also solicited similar photos from coworkers and posted the photos on social media.

The complaint accused the Baltimore County Fire Department of failing to investigate the harassment and not communicating with victims when the harassment was reported. The complaint also said officials did not "take prompt and appropriate actions to correct the ongoing hostile work environment."

An investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found the Baltimore County Fire Department violated Title VII, a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex and religion and prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing discriminatory employment practices.

Employees experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace can report to their local EEOC office or their respective state or local fair employment practices agencies. Contact information for each local EEOC office can be found at www.eeoc.gov/field-office.