ABSTRACT

In Hicks v. Alabama , the court ruled in favor of the prison agency when female correctional officers filed a suit against the state and several supervisors for sexual harassment by inmates. In the aforementioned case, the plaintiffs alleged that their superiors failed to control inmates from masturbating in their presence, which constituted a hostile work environment and disparate treatment in violation of Title VII. In this paper, we examine several legal cases over the last twenty years that have set the stage for changes in the prison workplace for female correctional officers. As our analysis reveals, when female correctional officers are sexually harassed by male inmates because of their gender, this creates a hostile work environment for these employees based on their membership in a protected class (here females). In such situations, where correctional administrators and supervisors deliberately fail to take corrective measures to address this issue of harassment by third parties, it creates the basis for Title VII suits, even though the employers themselves are not the perpetrators. This study has important implications for the contemporary management of prisons and jails.

摘要

在“希克斯诉阿拉巴马州”案中，当女性教养人员对州和几名监管人员提起囚犯性骚扰的诉讼时，法院判决监狱机构胜诉。在上述案件中，原告声称其上级未能控制犯人在场时自慰，这构成了敌对的工作环境和违反第七章的不同待遇。在本文中，我们研究了过去二十年来的几起法律案件，这些案件为改变监狱中的女性惩教人员奠定了基础。正如我们的分析所揭示的那样，当女性惩教人员由于性别而受到男囚犯的性骚扰时，这会根据这些雇员在受保护阶级（这里是女性）中的成员身份，为他们创造一个敌对的工作环境。在这种情况下，如果惩戒管理人员和主管故意不采取纠正措施来解决第三方的骚扰问题，即使雇主本身不是肇事者，也为第七章诉讼打下了基础。这项研究对当代监狱和监狱管理具有重要意义。