WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department has sued Dona Ana County, N.M., alleging the county discriminated against female employees based on their sex.
The complaint filed Wednesday alleged the county supervisor subjected five women to sexual harassment over a 10-month period and that the county didn't take appropriate or corrective action, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleged the supervisor used gender-based offensive and derogatory terms, asked about or commented on the women's sexual lives and criticized behavior he didn't criticize in men.
"Every woman should be able to go to work and be treated with dignity," said Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. "Public employers should take prompt and effective action to stop sexual harassment in the workplace and the Department of Justice will vigorously pursue cases in which the employer fails or refuses to do so."