MICHIGAN
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit alleging that the Michigan Department of Corrections discriminated against female corrections officers, federal officials announced today.
The complaint alleges that beginning in 2009, the Department of Corrections discriminated against female correctional officers working at its only prison for female inmates, Huron Valley.
The complaint further alleges that prison officials restricted multiple correctional officer positions on the basis of sex and without justification.
It also alleges the Department of Correction has a pattern or practice of denying the transfer requests of female correctional officers from Huron Valley to other state prisons while granting similar transfer requests to male correction officers.
“The Michigan Department of Corrections’ policy unnecessarily limits job opportunities for its female employees at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan. “We are not challenging positions where it makes sense to assign only female officers, but only those positions that could reasonably be filled by men or women. By limiting positions that are not justifiably related to inmate privacy to women officers, MDOC created staffing limitations that harm female employees by forcing them to work overtime and preventing them from transferring to other facilities that are closer to their homes, offer more favorable conditions or provide promotional opportunities.”
The lawsuit is asking the court to stop discriminatory job assignment and transfer policies and order the state prison system to prevent further discrimination, according to authorities.
To read the lawsuit click here: Department of Justice
The suit also seeks monetary damages and compensation for the female correctional officials, according to federal officials.
“Making decisions on job assignments and transfers based on a person’s sex violates federal law and is completely unacceptable,” said Director Gail Cober of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision’s Detroit Field Office. “The EEOC will continue to work in partnership with the DOJ to ensure that public employers follow the law and we will continue to fight for victims of sex discrimination to ensure that everyone has equal opportunity in the workplace.”