Sexual Harassment Case Appealed

A woman who unsuccessfully sued the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department for sexual harassment appealed her case to the Idaho Supreme Court Monday.

Randia Fowler, a former patrol deputy, took the sheriff’s department to court in August 1994. She claimed that sexually explicit language as well as a swimsuit calendar and a “condom plant” novelty gift created a hostile working environment.

Fowler was fired in 1990 for insubordination when she refused a transfer. She charged the transfer was a demotion brought on by her harassment complaints.

Sheriff’s attorneys said Fowler was a complainer who blamed every personal problem on imagined discrimination.

On Monday, the Idaho Supreme Court met in Coeur d’Alene to hear a variety of cases. Fowler’s attorney, Janet Jenkins, told the judges that the jury reached the wrong decision in Fowler’s case because the instructions they were given did not correctly state the law on sexual harassment.

The Supreme Court will issue its ruling later. , DataTimes