Guard settles suit against state

Criminal Justice department to pay $250,000 to woman who said boss raped her

EDITOR’S NOTE: The plaintiff’s name is being withheld because it is the policy of the Texarkana Gazette not to disclose the identities of sexual assault victims.

A former correctional officer who claims she was repeatedly raped by her supervisor at the Barry Telford Unit has settled her civil lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The plaintiff received the maximum allowed from TDCJ—$250,000—said a member of the woman’s legal team, Louise Tausch of the Texarkana-based Atchley, Russell, Waldrop & Hlavinka firm. Hailee Amox and Brandon Cogburn of the same law firm also represented the plaintiff.

TDCJ fired the supervisor in February 2014 after making a finding following an in-depth investigation that the alleged sexual assaults likely occurred.

“It is ridiculous that it took them 13 months,” Tausch said. “They had a policy that their pre-investigation should take 10 days, and it took them 13 months.”

A spokesman for TDCJ could not be reached for comment Friday.

The woman could have received a greater judgment from a jury, but any award beyond $250,000 would have to come from a Texas State Comptroller fund set up for such federal actions that has been depleted, Tausch said.

“Rather than have her relive this again on the witness stand and only be able to claim the same amount, the decision was made to settle,” Tausch said. “If this had been a private company, she would have gotten millions, and it would never have gone this far.”

The plaintiff alleges that her former boss, William D. Forte, began sexually assaulting, harassing, threatening and raping her while she was working in the prison in November 2011, with the last alleged rape occurring in December 2012. At the time of his termination from TDCJ, Forte was a lieutenant, according to court records used to create the following account.

The woman alleges Forte told her she

“needed a better attitude” after the first time he sexually assaulted her in November 2011, according to TDCJ records in the case. As her family’s only breadwinner, the woman was committed to keeping her job.

When the plaintiff attempted to report to another lieutenant in December 2011 that Forte had raped her, Forte stood behind the other supervisor shaking his head and mouthing the words, “You better not.”

Forte’s threats silenced the woman for some time, but eventually, she could no longer keep quiet. The woman claims Forte was jubilant in the moments after he last assaulted her in early December 2013.

“The (plaintiff) said Forte had a smirky look on his face, and she could tell he felt he was more powerful now than ever before, having made lieutenant. The (plaintiff) said Forte turned out the lights, pinned her against the counter facing the hallway, and had her pants unbuttoned and down to her knees fast. The (plaintiff) said she was twisting, turning and begging him to stop,” states a TDCJ investigative document.

After completing his sexual assault of the woman, Forte allegedly “pulled his pants up, gave a victory yell, and said that was the biggest adrenaline rush he ever had,” TDCJ documents state.

Forte has not been charged with any crime.

Tausch said TDCJ did little to address the situation after the serious allegations were brought to the agency’s attention in January 2013. Instead of putting Forte on leave or separating him from the plaintiff through work assignments to different areas of the prison, TDCJ responded by telling the woman and Forte to “act professionally and only talk about work,” Tausch said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Tausch said. “They claimed it was because of a shortage of manpower.”

Overcome with anxiety and post-traumatic stress, the woman quit working at Telford in April 2013, about 12 months before Forte’s official date of termination from TDCJ, documents show.

In addition to the $250,000 settlement, TDCJ has agreed not to oppose the woman if she files for worker’s compensation. The suit was filed in December 2015 in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. The settlement was reached Wednesday.

Tausch, Amox and Cogburn said the plaintiff hopes other women who have been victims of sexual assault know they’re not alone.

“TDCJ took a lot away from the plaintiff,” Amox said. “But they couldn’t take away her voice.” llarowe@texarkanagazette.com