On February 29, 2008, Martin McManaman and Patrick Moran won summary judgment in a sexual harassment lawsuit for their client, a local county sheriff’s office. The plaintiff, a corrections officer at the county jail, had alleged that the sheriff’s office unreasonably failed to prevent the plaintiff’s supervisor, a lieutenant at the jail, from repeatedly sexually harassing her. The plaintiff also alleged that the lieutenant and other members of the sheriff’s office retaliated against her after she complained about the harassment. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois disagreed with the plaintiff’s claims, finding that the sheriff’s office conducted a prompt investigation of her complaint and successfully deterred the allegedly harassing conduct. As for the retaliation, the court found there was no evidence to support the plaintiff’s claim that she was the victim of retaliation. The published opinion can be found at 2008 WL 624045 (N.D.Ill. Feb. 29, 2008).
For more information on this case or on Lowis & Gellen LLP's civil rights defense group, please contact either Martin McManaman at mcmanaman@lowis-gellen.com or Patrick Moran at pmoran@lowis-gellen.com.
