Female prison workers can sue IDOC over inmate obscene acts

A federal judge will let female Pontiac Correctional Center workers proceed with their class action accusing the state and Illinois Department of Corrections contractor Wexford of falling short of obligations to protect them from exposure to inmates’ obscene acts and sexual harassment.

The original litigation dates to June 2021 and now includes five named plaintiffs who worked for IDOC and Wexford as mental health professionals and nurses from as far back as May 2014 with two currently employed. Named defendants include Wexford Health Sources, the IDOC, agency Director Latoya Hughes, former Pontiac wardens Leonta Jackson, Teri Kennedy and Emily Ruskin, current warden Mindi Murse, former IDOC psychology administrator Kelly Renzi and Wexford Mental Health Services Director John Sokol.

In an opinion filed March 10, U.S. District Judge Jonathan Hawley, of the U.S. Dist...