Ex-Corrections Worker Wins Harassment Case

A former employee of the state Corrections Department has won $290,000 from the state in a sexual harassment case.

Kathleen Lane won nearly $73,000 in court in Olympia and settled with the state for the rest to pay legal fees.

Her lawyer, Richard Reed of Seattle, said the state failed to correct a hostile work environment.

Lane said she was raped by a co-worker while on the job at the Special Offender’s Center in Monroe, where sex predators are held.

She said she was required to continue working the same shift as her assailant and that her superiors chided her about her accusation.

She quit eight years ago and now says she is unable to work because of stress.