IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) - An eastern Idaho sheriff is being sued in federal court by a former employee contending she faced sexual discrimination after revealing wrongdoing by the sheriff, including a secret account containing money from undercover drug investigations.
The Post Register reports (https://bit.ly/1kXTssY) that the lawsuit filed April 25 by Amanda Lee also contends that Jefferson County Sheriff Blair Olsen violated her free-speech rights and whistleblower protections under the Idaho Public Employee Protection Act.
Lee is a former bookkeeper and driver’s license supervisor in the sheriff’s office. The lawsuit contends that Olsen retaliated against her after she expressed concerns about what Lee saw as Olsen’s misuse of public funds and unequal treatment of employees.
The lawsuit also names the sheriff’s office, Jefferson County and the County Commission as defendants. Lee is seeking damages of at least $10,000 for loss of earnings, emotional damages and punitive damages. “The actions of (the) defendants … constitute tortuous acts in violation of the public policy of the State of Idaho and violate federal law,” the lawsuit said.
Olsen didn’t return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.
The lawsuit said that Lee brought Olsen’s “illicit fiscal activities … including the use of a ’secret’ narcotics account” to the attention of county commissioners and “requested that they remove … Olsen as her supervisor and provide her with a non-retaliatory, non-hostile supervisor.”
The commissioners didn’t respond, the lawsuit said, making Lee’s continued employment impossible. She started working at the sheriff’s office in 1993.
“Because the commissioners failed to act … and due to Sheriff Olsen’s continued hostile and retaliatory behavior, Ms. Lee was forced to resign on Dec. 31, 2012.”
County commissioners declined to comment or didn’t return calls from the AP on Friday.
The lawsuit said that in August 2007, Olsen ordered that “certain female employees wear a skirt to work one day a week.” Lee, as driver’s license supervisor, was required to enforce the policy.
“On the days that she wore a skirt or dress to work, Ms. Lee was subjected to ogling and inappropriate comments by Sheriff Olsen and other male employees,” the lawsuit said. “In addition, Sheriff Olsen allocated county funds for (a) clothing allowance for himself and a few select male employees.”
The lawsuit also contends that Olsen issued a cellphone to his wife in Lee’s name, and that research by Lee found that Olsen’s wife had been using a county cellphone for at least eight years.
Other claims in the lawsuit are that Olsen used public funds to pay for his membership in the National Rifle Association, used a county credit card to buy fuel for his personal vehicles, and used money from the jail’s food budget to pay for a Christmas party that included alcohol.
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Information from: Post Register, https://www.postregister.com
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