DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local sheriff was found guilty by a federal jury for creating a hostile work environment for female jail officers.
The county ended up paying $250,000 to the now-former jail officers.
Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes spoke with one of those officers who say it wasn’t all about the money, it was about accountability.
"I don’t care where you’re working, you should not have to endure being sexually harassed," said the officer who asked not to be identified for fear of losing her current law enforcement job.
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In 2022, she says she was forced to resign and filed a lawsuit against DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox alongside five other female jailers. They say Maddox created a hostile work environment.
In the federal lawsuit, the female jailers said Sheriff Maddox allowed male inmates to perform sexual acts in front of them, threaten to rape them and fearful inmates would get out of their cells because “the locks remained broken, and inmates were out of their cells and in public areas without authorization."
One jailer said in the complaint that she "was under the leadership of three different sheriffs during her tenure. The sexually hostile work environment was the worst under the current sheriff, Maddox."
“The most hurtful part of the whole situation is the narrative they was trying to push, ‘It’s part of the job.’ It’s not part of your job to be sexually harassed," the officer said.
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Sheriff Maddox declined to comment on the guilty verdict and declined to answer any questions about the current status of broken locks on inmates’ doors.
She also would not confirm from which account the county paid the $250,000 that a federal jury awarded.
“The money is nice, but the most important part or reason for this is for change,” she said. “I guess because she feels she’s the sheriff, she don’t have accountability.”
Before the guilty verdict, Maddox said during the trial that staffing shortages and ongoing problems with the infrastructure of the jail is part of the problem.
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