Sexual harassment suits filed against the administrator of the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail and its four board members by three women who worked there were settled this summer.
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Two more suits are now pending. Marvin Landes of Jameson requested information about the case under the Missouri Sunshine Laws and has shared the information he received with the paper.
"I wanted to settle the rumors going around about this lawsuit," said Mr. Landes. "The jail board and their lawyers were completely cooperative."
The plaintiffs were Amy Sue Curtis of Maysville, Kayci Porter of Hamilton, and Cassie Brown of Bethany. According to the jail’s attorney M. Douglas Harpool, the jail’s insurance carrier negotiated a settlement with the plaintiffs before the court ruled on whether or not the case would go to trial. The general settlement was for one sum, Mr. Harpool said, to be divided by the three plaintiffs. Part of the settlement was that the jail and Mr. Hadley continue to deny liability.
Mr. Landes’ letter was answered by the law offices of Baird, Lightner, Millsap and Harpool and signed by Mr. Harpool.
The plaintiffs received a total sum of $310,000 for settlement of all claims, including attorneys fees. The settlement payment was to be issued in four checks as follows: check one in the amount of $58,467.34 payable to Amy Curtis for compensatory damages; check two in the amount of $58,467.34 to Cassie Brown; check three in the amount of $58,467.34 to Kayci Porter; check four in the amount of $134,597.98 for attorneys fees and costs to the law offices of Ensz & Jester, P.C.
The two pending cases against the jail are
1) Katherine Wright as plaintiff vs. the jail district as defendants, the nature of the claims being assault and battery under Missouri common law. Ms. Wright was a former employee of the jail;
2) Gayle Dawkins of Cameron, plaintiff, against the jail district and Larry Hadley in his official and individual capacity, defendants. Dawkins brings suit under the Missouri Human Rights Act.