A northwestern Indiana town has paid two women more than $200,000 to settle their lawsuits accusing a former police officer of sexually harassing them. An attorney for the Lake County town of St. John released the two settlement agreements last week.
The first candidate to announce for the Republican nomination for Indiana attorney general in the 2020 race is touting his private sector experience and is calling for “principled, conservative leadership” in the Office of the Attorney General.
Another chapter has been opened in the ongoing saga surrounding allegations that Attorney General Curtis Hill drunkenly groped four women at a bar more than a year ago. The four women, who up to this point have pursued action within the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, have now taken their complaint to the Southern Indiana District Court.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is being sued in federal court by four women who say he drunkenly groping them during a party last year. The women, including an Indiana lawmaker, say their aim is to ensure all individuals working in and around the Indiana Statehouse are able to perform their jobs and pursue their careers free from sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation for reporting such situations.
The University of Evansville has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit accusing a former theater professor of sexually harassing a student. Former university student Alexis Seay filed the lawsuit last year, accusing R. Scott Lank of racial and sexual harassment, including unwanted touching and comments.
A former city of Terre Haute employee alleging he was forced to resign due to sexual harassment in the workplace partially defeated a motion for summary judgement against him Tuesday. A federal judge determined the city couldn’t stand up to the man’s claims for retaliatory and sexual harassment or negligent supervision.
Indianapolis Public Schools paid about $600,000 to settle two lawsuits in a case involving a former school counselor who was accused of having sex with students.
A former employee alleges Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann fired her unfairly after she rejected his romantic advances. Hermann denied the allegations but acknowledged the former employee had told him he had made her uncomfortable.
The formal attorney discipline hearing against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill will likely be held in late October, according to former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby, the hearing officer in his legal ethics case over accusations of sexual misconduct.
The legal profession has a problem, according to the International Bar Association. The largest survey of its kind found sexual harassment and bullying endemic in the legal profession in the United States and around the world.
The formal attorney discipline hearing against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill will likely be held in late October. Hearing officer and former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby set tentative dates at a pre-hearing conference Wednesday.
Some top aides to Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill have seen recent pay hikes of $9,000 or more, but Hill contends they are not rewards for sticking with him as he faces allegations of drunkenly groping four women during a party last year.
The Office of the Indiana Attorney General has paid more than $29,000 for outside legal ethics counsel, and public records indicate thousands of dollars in tax money may have paid for legal services related to the fallout from the sexual misconduct accusations against Attorney General Curtis Hill.
The Indiana Supreme Court has appointed a former justice to oversee the disciplinary case against Attorney General Curtis Hill, rejecting Hill’s motion to forgo a hearing officer but also rejecting a Disciplinary Commission motion to appoint a three-person panel to hear the case.
Efforts to hold revenge porn perpetrators criminally accountable advanced Monday after the Indiana House of Representatives voted 95-0 in favor of legislation that would criminalize the posting of nonconsensual pornography.
A southern Indiana county commissioner and Bloomington mayoral candidate is stepping down from her post after being accused of sexual harassment by a former county contractor.
The briefing battle between Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and the Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission has continued this week, with Hill arguing in new court filings that the commission’s attempts to convince the Supreme Court to proceed with the case consist of bootstrapping, red herrings and fatal flaws.
The way the federal court system addresses sexual harassment complaints should be clearer and fairer moving forward now that the federal judiciary has made clarifying amendments to its workplace conduct rules.
The disciplinary complaint against Hill raises new questions about the disciplinary process itself, including who can preside over the proceedings and what would happen if the state’s chief legal officer loses his law license, even temporarily. But those questions aside, ethics attorneys say Hill’s status as a prominent elected official shouldn’t have any bearing on the nuts and bolts of the discipline process.
The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission has accused Attorney General Curtis Hill of seeking special treatment in the disciplinary proceedings brought against him, arguing in court filings that Hill’s case must go before a hearing panel to protect the public interest.