New claims in cases of harassment

Settlements against Nygren have cost $105K

MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is once again investigating a female prison supervisor who has cost taxpayers $105,000 in settlements related to sexual harassment claims.

Agency spokesman Tristan Cook confirmed that Susan Nygren is currently on paid leave while corrections officials look into undisclosed claims against her.

“DOC has received allegations of work rule violations regarding Sue Nygren and has placed her on administrative leave while we conduct an internal personnel investigation,” said Cook, who declined comment on what violations have been alleged.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the first settlement involving Nygren in January and then on the second one involving her earlier this month.

The women who received the 2017 settlements were both fired from the state prison system and at least one is barred from ever working at a Wisconsin prison again. But for now, Nygren continues to make $97,500 as a health services unit supervisor at the Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center, a prison for women in Union Grove.

Federal lawsuits against the state alleged that Nygren had mistreated female staff and then retaliated against them when they complained. An internal investigation and a federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission review both found evidence of sexual harassment, according to court records.

Nygren previously denied wrongdoing to prison officials. A telephone number listed for her has been disconnected.

The first worker, phlebotomist Felicia Brown, alleged in federal court in Milwaukee that while working at the Racine Correctional Institution she was kissed, mistreated and ultimately fired by Nygren after she complained. Taxpayers paid $55,000 to resolve the claim with a settlement that barred Brown from working again at a state prison.

“I got more respect from the gentlemen there than from my boss,” Brown said recently of the inmates and Nygren. “(The lawsuit) was not about a dollar amount. It was to have her be accountable for what she did.”

Brown alleged — in some cases with corroboration — that Nygren had kissed her on the lips; sucked frosting off a female employee’s thumb; and showed off her bra and tan lines to female co-workers. Brown was a contract worker for an outside firm and alleged the harassment and retaliation happened between December 2010 and the first half of 2013.

In a separate 2017 settlement, the state also paid $50,000 to Camilla Selmon, a former Racine Correctional nurse. Selmon alleged that Nygren fired her after Selmon cooperated with an investigation into whether Nygren had harassed Brown.

Selmon confirmed, for instance, that Nygren had kissed Brown on the forehead and said that if she and Brown were partners then Brown could be on Nygren’s health insurance.

Nygren gave Selmon a poor job review on April 26, 2013, just three days after Selmon had spoken to corrections investigators about Nygren’s harassment of Brown, according to court records. In July 2013, Nygren fired Selmon.

“In a conversation with the nursing supervisor at Racine Correctional Institution, (Selmon) was informed that her job was in jeopardy because Nygren was trying to get rid of her. Nygren eventually did recommend plaintiff ’s termination,” that second lawsuit reads.

The Department of Corrections recently released Nygren’s disciplinary record to the Journal Sentinel through an open records request.

DOC officials investigated Nygren in 2013 for the claims that led to the 2017 settlements. The investigator noted Nygren’s “failure to exercise good judgment in dealing with employees,” but she wasn’t disciplined.

In June 2016, Nygren was suspended without pay for three days for using abusive language toward, and harassing, employees.

The records from that investigation quote an African-American staff member who said Nygren had told her that the reason her glasses weren’t fitting well is because “black people have flat noses.” Speaking to investigators later, Nygren acknowledged helping the co-worker adjust her glasses but said she didn’t make the comment.