Sexual Harassment

A Stanford woman claims in a lawsuit that she suffered sexual harassment and a hostile work environment while employed at Danville furniture maker 3B Inc. An attorney for the company, however, says there is no basis for the lawsuit and that he expects it will be withdrawn after the woman's attorneys learn the full facts of the case. Teresa Sims alleges in the lawsuit, filed last month in Boyle Circuit Court, that she endured "severe and pervasive sexual harassment" and that the company, and supervisor Eric Verhoef, retaliated against her after she complained about the treatment.

After a year of investigation and scrutiny, Jessamine County Fiscal Court and EMS director Jerry Domidion have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the resignation hearing of former EMT Tina Griggs. A referee decision by the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Office of Employment and Training in Frankfort released the decision last week, stating Griggs' allegations that she had been forced to quit and was owed compensation were unfounded. “I think this validates the stance of the judge-executive (Neal Cassity)

A Danville woman has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former boss at 84 Lumber and the company itself. Sherry Deatherage claims in the lawsuit filed last week in Boyle Circuit Court that she suffered employment discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation while working at 84 Lumber in Danville in 2006 and 2007, and was fired March 1 after reporting incidents to regional supervisors. Deatherage, who worked as a co-manager for outside sales, claims that local store manager Dennis Spinks subjected her to "a pattern of sexual harassment and unwelcome conduct.

A judge has issued a restraining order against the administrator of several group homes for the mentally disabled in Mercer County after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of employees and residents. The order, issued Thursday by Mercer Family Court Judge Bruce Petrie, also prohibits several people who worked for New Hope Agency LLC from entering the facilities, and it gives power of attorney to a mental health board. Terry Wallingford, 45, of 1401 Curry Pike, the administrator, was arrested Tuesday and charged with three counts of sexual abuse and one count of rape.

A former employee for Alltech, Inc., a company that primarily promotes animal health and nutrition, has filed a lawsuit in Jessamine County Circuit Court alleging sexual harassment and retalliation. Amanda Jo Wester, who served as Alltech’s U.S. Controller, issued complaints against her supervisor and director of the Americas at the time, Eric Lanz, and officials at the company in the lawsuit filed May 20 in Jessamine Circuit Court. Wester alleges that her former boss harassed her through e-mails and calls for about three years, and when she reported the incidents, she claims the reports were initially dismissed, then used in retalliation against her by founder and president of Alltech, Dr. Thomas Pearse Lyons and director and vice president of finance/secretary and treasurer of Alltech Nathan H. Hohman.

An appeal has been filed in circuit court against the Jessamine County Fiscal Court in the case of a former Jessamine County EMT who filed a sexual-harassment claim against the county after resigning. The appeal, filed Feb. 19, claims the fiscal court erred in not providing unemployment benefits to Tina Griggs, who resigned in June 2011. The appeal also names the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission as a defendant, claiming it erred when it upheld a referee ruling affirming the fiscal court's decision to not provide benefits.

A Danville company has been vindicated in a lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleged sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. 3B Inc. and general manager Eric Verhoeff won favorable judgment from a Boyle Circuit Court jury in May after a five-day civil trial in a 2007 lawsuit filed by Teresa Sims of Stanford. "The jury took an hour and 20 or 30 minutes and came back with a total defense verdict," Lexington attorney Richard Getty, who defended 3B, said Tuesday.

Jessamine County's human resource director Evelyn Smith has been accused of assaulting an employee, according to a criminal complaint and formal grievance obtained by The Journal. Emergency 911 dispatcher Michael Hurst filed a criminal complaint with the county attorney's office after he said he was attacked by Smith on Friday, May 25 in the court house. Hurst alleges the attack is a retaliation for his wife's testimony in an ongoing unemployment hearing and sexual harassment claim.

A former Northpoint Training Center employee was awarded $730,000 in damages by a Boyle Circuit Court jury Wednesday in her lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections. Dorsey Furr, 50, of Danville, was granted the judgment in the suit filed in 1995. She charged staff at Northpoint retaliated against her after she filed sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaints at the center. According to Lisa Lamb, director of communications for the state Department of Corrections, Furr was an employee at NTC from 1988 to 1994 as a classification and treatment officer.

Coast Guard Seaman Rachel French, daughter of Laura J. Dalzell of Lexington and Michael W. French, of Nicholasville recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N. J. During the eight-week training program, French completed a vigorous training curriculum consisting of academics and practical instruction on water safety and survival, military customs and courtesies, seamanship skills, physical fitness, health...

An appeal has been filed in circuit court against the Jessamine County Fiscal Court in the case of a former Jessamine County EMT who filed a sexual-harassment claim against the county after resigning. The appeal, filed Feb. 19, claims the fiscal court erred in not providing unemployment benefits to Tina Griggs, who resigned in June 2011. The appeal also names the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission as a defendant, claiming it erred when it upheld a referee ruling affirming the fiscal court's decision to not provide benefits.

More than a year and a half after the resignation of a Jessamine County EMT who said she quit her position because of sexual harassment, a decision by the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission has upheld the referee decision that deemed the county correct in denying her unemployment benefits. The unemployment commission released the decision last week, stating the referee who handled the case for the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Office of Employment and Training made no errors when deciding that Tina Griggs left voluntarily, “without good cause attributable to the employment,” and therefore is not entitled to unemployment.

After a year of investigation and scrutiny, Jessamine County Fiscal Court and EMS director Jerry Domidion have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the resignation hearing of former EMT Tina Griggs. A referee decision by the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Office of Employment and Training in Frankfort released the decision last week, stating Griggs' allegations that she had been forced to quit and was owed compensation were unfounded. “I think this validates the stance of the judge-executive (Neal Cassity)

Jessamine County's human resource director Evelyn Smith has been accused of assaulting an employee, according to a criminal complaint and formal grievance obtained by The Journal. Emergency 911 dispatcher Michael Hurst filed a criminal complaint with the county attorney's office after he said he was attacked by Smith on Friday, May 25 in the court house. Hurst alleges the attack is a retaliation for his wife's testimony in an ongoing unemployment hearing and sexual harassment claim.

Coast Guard Seaman Rachel French, daughter of Laura J. Dalzell of Lexington and Michael W. French, of Nicholasville recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N. J. During the eight-week training program, French completed a vigorous training curriculum consisting of academics and practical instruction on water safety and survival, military customs and courtesies, seamanship skills, physical fitness, health...

A former employee for Alltech, Inc., a company that primarily promotes animal health and nutrition, has filed a lawsuit in Jessamine County Circuit Court alleging sexual harassment and retalliation. Amanda Jo Wester, who served as Alltech’s U.S. Controller, issued complaints against her supervisor and director of the Americas at the time, Eric Lanz, and officials at the company in the lawsuit filed May 20 in Jessamine Circuit Court. Wester alleges that her former boss harassed her through e-mails and calls for about three years, and when she reported the incidents, she claims the reports were initially dismissed, then used in retalliation against her by founder and president of Alltech, Dr. Thomas Pearse Lyons and director and vice president of finance/secretary and treasurer of Alltech Nathan H. Hohman.

A Danville company has been vindicated in a lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleged sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. 3B Inc. and general manager Eric Verhoeff won favorable judgment from a Boyle Circuit Court jury in May after a five-day civil trial in a 2007 lawsuit filed by Teresa Sims of Stanford. "The jury took an hour and 20 or 30 minutes and came back with a total defense verdict," Lexington attorney Richard Getty, who defended 3B, said Tuesday.

A judge has issued a restraining order against the administrator of several group homes for the mentally disabled in Mercer County after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of employees and residents. The order, issued Thursday by Mercer Family Court Judge Bruce Petrie, also prohibits several people who worked for New Hope Agency LLC from entering the facilities, and it gives power of attorney to a mental health board. Terry Wallingford, 45, of 1401 Curry Pike, the administrator, was arrested Tuesday and charged with three counts of sexual abuse and one count of rape.

Because one out of every six women and one out of every 33 men in the United States have been raped. Because sexual assault can affect a person's emotions, thoughts and ability to function. Because nobody plans to get raped and thus nobody knows what to do when it happens. These are the reasons the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center exists, and these are the reasons people volunteer for the center every year, says Leeann Hayslett, a counselor for the center. But not enough people are volunteering right now, and the center needs more.

LANCASTER - Two Garrard County High School students involved in what school officials call horseplay gone out of control were disciplined Tuesday night. Student A and Student B, as they were referred to, were involved in an incident in the locker room shower that Superintendent Ray Woolsey said just became "blown out of proportion. " "It was horseplay that got out of control," Woolsey said. "It wasn't what it was reported to be. " Woolsey could not go into detail as to what specifically happened that first week of November with the students.