CCA Settles Sexual Harassment & Correctional Officer Raped by CCA Employee After She Complained

Crowley County prison operator to pay $1.3 million in settling sex-harassment lawsuit

Originally found here

A private prison operator will pay $1.3 million to settle complaints from 21 female employees who claimed they suffered harassment from male supervisors and colleagues ranging from sexually explicit comments to rape.

A female officer complained a male co-worker sexually harassed her and that after she complained, she was reassigned to an isolated location of the medium-security Crowley County Correctional Facility where she was raped by the man she complained about, according to the federal lawsuit.

The suit, filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also accused a chief of security at the prison of forcing a female correctional officer to have sex with him so she could keep her job.

Female employees also accused their male counterparts of openly viewing pornography and making demeaning sexual jokes about them.

The EEOC sued Corrections Corporation of America and Dominion Correctional Services on behalf of the female employees in 2006.

Although a settlement was reached, the defendants did not admit liability. Dominion is no longer operating prisons and the company could not be reached for comment.

"CCA settled the claim to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainties of continued litigation and trial," said a statement issued by that company.

CCA assumed control of the prison in January 2003 from Dominion and claims that a "substantial number" of the more serious allegations occurred under Dominion's operation.

"Of the 21 individuals alleging discriminatory conduct, eight were never CCA employees, but were employed solely by Dominion," the statement said. "Moreover, although seven of the 21 individuals were employed by both CCA and Dominion, the majority of their claims also related to events that allegedly occurred before CCA began operating the facility."

EEOC attorney Rita Byrnes Kittle said some of the employees accused of sexual harassment over the years have resigned, but some are still working at the prison.

Guadalupe Gonzales, the 39-year-old former employee accused of rape in 2002, was convicted in 2005 of felony sexual assault. He was sentenced to four years of probation and is registered as a sex offender.

As part of the settlement agreement, Dominion cannot operate a prison in Colorado for three years. CCA must have sexual harassment training conducted by an outside expert for the next three years and have a toll-free number available for employees to call to report sexual harassment.

Some of the women who lost their jobs because of the harassment will get them back and will also get letters of apology.

The settlement comes four months after a federal judge imposed a $1.3 million judgment against a former Colorado correctional officer who sexually abused a female inmate at the state women's complex in Denver.

Legal Resident Being Held by CCA & ICE at Stewart Detention Center

Written by The 270 View
August 20, 2009

Carlos Aranda was living the American dream. He is married, with a two year old child and a house in Atlanta, Georgia. His hard work has paid off and he was just recently promoted at work. Family members describe him as a good person and a hard working American who had immigrated here from Mexico for a better life. His parents and all of his other relatives also live in the United States.

On August 6, 2009 Carlos Aranda was asked to come into his probation officers office due to a paperwork problem. What Carlos Aranda did not know is that Immigration agents were waiting to take him into custody. Mr. Aranda had been on probation for a crime that he had committed in 2000 at the age of 17. He currently has no bond due to a paperwork error that allegedly was made by Douglas County law enforcement.

Mr. Aranda is not here illegally. His family states that he has a valid drivers licence, passport and social security card . He was granted residency in 1994. His residency in the United States was renewed by the United States government on January 15, 2009 and was approved until 2019. He was honest about his minor criminal record with immigration. They say that he has done things the right way and that he has paid taxes for fifteen years.

For the last two weeks Mr. Aranda has been locked up and possibly will face deportation in the near future. He is currently held at Correction Corporation of America's for profit Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. During his time at the Stewart Detention Center family members have stated that Mr. Aranda has had to deal with deplorable conditions and a very unsanitary environment. They allege that soap and other hygiene items are not readily available and that their relative has been placed in a housing unit with violent offenders who have threatened him on more than one occasion. They also state that he has become sick since being placed in the facility. Mr. Aranda has allegedly also had to endure several hours of heat outdoors with no available drinking water followed by several days without being allowed outside again. Family members are very worried about the isolation he faces in a facility located so far away from people who desperately wish to be able to at least visit with him on a regular basis. They are also concerned by the bad attitudes that they state CCA employee's have shown them during Carlos Aranda's detention at the Stewart Detention facility. The physical distance from any available legal representation and the remote location of the detention center also poses a significant problem to him being able to regularly access the legal resources and legal professionals that he urgently needs to speak with about his case.

Since his detention things have not been easy on his family. Carlos Aranda's wife, Margaret Williams, states that she is currently seeing a doctor for anxiety and emotional stress that she is under from the whole situation. The family is on the verge of losing everything that they have worked hard for. Carlos Aranda's two year old son just wants to know "Where is my daddy." For Carlos Aranda and his family the American dream has just become a nightmare.

The 270 View Internet blog hopes that by highlighting his current case the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency will quickly release Carlos Aranda so that he can rejoin his family before they suffer even more hardship. Mr. Aranda's job is currently being held by his employer but without a timely release he will be joining the ranks of the recession unemployed and his family will be facing an even worse situation. Carlos Aranda's family states that he has never missed a probation appointment and is not a flight risk. Keeping him behind bars in a possibly unsafe environment and away from his family is just wrong. Carlos Aranda is a legal American resident. At the very least he deserves to be given bond while his citizenship problems are addressed.

Obama: Immigration bill this year

The full article can be found here.

By Carol E. Lee

Under fire from immigration reform supporters who say he’s not moving fast enough, President Barack Obama said Monday he expects to have a draft immigration bill in Congress by year’s end — but that lawmakers wouldn’t begin to seriously debate the issue until next year.

He acknowledged that the fight for comprehensive reform would be difficult, saying, “Am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No. . . . There are going to be demagogues out there who try to suggest that any form of pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable.”

Obama also predicted that Congress would pass his health reform bill later this year when more “sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge” — a clear reference to the increasingly heated attacks being leveled against his overhaul plan by opponents.

Obama brushed back a suggestion from a New York Times reporter that the “blows” he’s suffering in the health-care debate would weaken him too much to take on another massive legislative fight on immigration reform heading into the 2010 midterm elections.

“I anticipate we'll do just fine” in the midterms, Obama said. “And I think when all is said on health care reform, the American people are going to be glad that we acted to change an unsustainable system so that more people have coverage.”

On immigration, he added, “Those are fights that I'd have to have if my poll numbers are at 70 or if my poll numbers are at 40. That's just the nature of the U.S. immigration debate. But ultimately I think the American people want fairness.”

Immigration reform supporters have grown increasingly vocal in criticizing what some see as foot-dragging by Obama on the contentious issue — which President George W. Bush tried in his second term, only to see it fail and cause deep divisions within his own party. Obama’s comments Monday amounted to a firmer timetable than he has set down in the past and came at the end of a summit with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts here.

He spoke in similar terms about immigration and health reform, calling both a national imperative required to fix an unsustainable system. “We have a broken immigration system. Nobody denies it,” Obama said.