A state employee is suing the state of Alaska for $19 million, alleging she was sexually harassed by a co-worker who physically injured her and gave her poor performance reviews when she complained.
The state of Alaska denies the employee has a valid claim.
The suit, filed in Anchorage’s federal court in November, asserts that Kenai juvenile justice worker Toni Prins was sexually harassed by a supervisor starting in April 2016. Prins complained to another supervisor, but the state did not take immediate action, the complaint says.
After Prins’ complaint, her supervisor injured her during a training session intended to teach safe restraint, her complaint states. The supervisor also gave her a poor performance review, her complaint says.
After Prins was transferred to another supervisor, she received a good review, according to her complaint.
“The performance review speaks for itself,” according to a filing from the state. The review is not public.
The Alaska State Commission on Human Rights investigated Prins’ complaint and determined that her injury was deliberate retaliation and that Prins was the subject of discrimination, according to a description written by Prins’ attorney. After the commission’s investigation, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a “right to sue” letter, and Prins followed suit within the 90-day window allowed by federal law.
Her complaint asks for $19 million in damages.
The state’s response, filed Dec. 16, requests that the court dismiss the claims and award the state attorney fees.
Prins is being represented by Anchorage attorney Sara Bloom, who declined to comment. Siobhan McIntyre is the assistant attorney general representing the state. Assistant attorney general Maria Bahr said the state “generally does not comment on the merits of ongoing litigation outside of the language contained in our public pleadings.”
The state’s pleading says the human rights commission’s investigation “speaks for itself." When asked for a copy of the investigation’s findings, Bahr said, “any information regarding the ASCHR investigation Ms. Prins references in her complaint is confidential and only available to the claimant and the respondent.”
Bloom also declined to provide a copy of the findings.