Colorado prison employee sues, alleging sexual harassment

A female correctional officer has sued a prison captain in Denver U.S. District Court claiming he sexually harassed her, including making obscene gestures to her in front of her husband and ultimately retaliating against her.

Denver attorney David Wollins filed the lawsuit Saturday on behalf of Leticia Cornella against Scott Lancaster, whom she accused of sexual harassment, and Rick Raemisch, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Cornella is seeking lost pay, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees, according to the lawsuit.

“It is the rare case in which a sexual encounter between a supervisor and his or her underling leads to a stroll into a romantic sunset of marital bliss,” the lawsuit says.

In Cornella’s case, the sexual harassment continued even after her marriage and in front of her husband and escalated to the point where she lost her job, the lawsuit says.

Limon Correctional Facility hired Cornella in September 2015, and within a month Lancaster began to flirt with her, the lawsuit says. The flirting quickly escalated to sexual messaging. She participated, the lawsuit says, but because of the work circumstances, “her consent was not obtainable,” the lawsuit says.

In October 2015, Lancaster gave Cornella alcohol and the two had a “sexual encounter” at his townhouse. But Cornella told him it would not happen again and repeatedly rebuffed his continuing sexual advances, the lawsuit says. She made it clear their relationship would be only professional thereafter. But the sexual solicitations continued, the lawsuit says.

“Lancaster became angry with her, exclaiming that he was tired of her refusing to do what he wanted her to do. He then stormed out of her office enraged. He would not, he said emphatically, be ignored,” the lawsuit says.

Cornella sent an email to him and copied it to his supervisor saying she would not tolerate such inappropriate behavior, the lawsuit says. But after Cornella was married in early 2016, the harassment continued, once in front of her husband, the lawsuit says.

She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, and her doctor recommended she stay away from work for one week and be given work accommodations to avoid contact with Lancaster.

Warden James Falk denied the requests, the lawsuit says. She was told fellow employees did not verify her allegations and that Lancaster passed a polygraph test, the lawsuit says. He claimed she appeared to want to continue the relationship and retaliated against him for refusing, it says.

She has been placed on unpaid leave, the lawsuit says.