Wisconsin has paid more than $800,000 to settle sexual harassment cases over past decade

MADISON - Wisconsin taxpayers have paid nearly $800,000 over the past decade to settle a dozen claims of sexual harassment and one more related case, newly released records show.

The documents released to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel under the state's open records law detailed claims made since 2006 against agencies that include the University of Wisconsin System, the Department of Corrections and the state Senate.

The state has tens of thousands of employees and the settlements represent only a fraction of the tens of billions of dollars spent by the state each year. But the payments ranging from $6,500 to as much as $250,000 highlight the costs for taxpayers that can result from claims of sexual harassment in state offices around Wisconsin.

The payments may not even represent the full total of such settlements — the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal each pointed out sexual harassment payouts Tuesday that were not released in the records.

The newly released payments to victims and their attorneys were arranged through the risk management office at the state Department of Administration and may not include some payouts made by other agencies. In certain cases, those agencies can also reach settlements, according to administration spokesman Steve Michels.

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The records include some previously unreleased cases and others that have already been reported, including $75,000 to resolve a sexual harassment and racial discrimination claim made by an aide to then-state senator and now City of Milwaukee Treasurer Spencer Coggs.

In a separate 2017 settlement, the state paid $50,000 to Camilla Selmon, a former nurse at the Racine Correctional Institution. Selmon alleged that she was fired by her female supervisor, Susan Nygren, after Selmon cooperated with an investigation into whether Nygren had sexually harassed another female employee, according to court records.

Selmon confirmed, for instance, that Nygren had kissed prison phlebotomist Felicia Brown on the forehead, telling Brown that if she and Nygren were partners then Brown could be on Nygren's health insurance.

Nygren gave Selmon a poor job review on April 26, 2013, just three days after Selmon had spoken to corrections investigators about Nygren's harassment of Brown, according to court records. In July 2013, Nygren fired Selmon.

"In a conversation with the nursing supervisor at Racine Correctional Institution, (Selmon) was informed that her job was in jeopardy because Nygren was trying to get rid of her. Nygren eventually did recommend plaintiff’s termination," the lawsuit reads.

The state paid an additional $55,000 in taxpayer money to settle the sexual harassment lawsuit by Brown, who alleged — in some cases with corroboration — that Nygren had kissed her on the lips; sucked frosting off a female employee's thumb; and showed off her bra and tan lines to female co-workers. That second settlement — uncovered through a separate Journal Sentinel public records request to the Department of Justice — was not included in the records just released by the Department of Administration.

Brown is now barred from working at state prisons but Nygren is still working a similar supervisor's job at a nearby prison and earning about $97,500 a year.

Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook has said that the agency "disputes the allegations as presented" against Nygren and that the agency "takes all allegations of sexual harassment seriously."

The new records included another harassment payout involving a DOC supervisor.

In a 2008 federal lawsuit in Milwaukee, a woman alleged that her DOC manager told her over the phone to “come eat me." The supervisor, a large man, then came to the woman’s cubicle and sat with his legs spread blocking her exit, insisting there was nothing wrong with what he had said, according to the woman's claim.

In a court filing, the state partly denied the woman’s allegations but did admit that the supervisor had said, “You can eat me if you like,” after the woman had mentioned being hungry.

The woman filed a complaint with DOC officials but was forced to transfer to a different office and continue to report to the same supervisor while the complaint was investigated, the lawsuit alleges. The state paid $10,000 in January 2009 to settle the woman's suit.

Another case in the latest records involved Amy Gabel, a former employee of the UW-Madison power plant who received a payout in 2008 after being sexually harassed by a supervisor and coworkers.

News reports about Gabel's legal action at the time said that the plant superintendent, John Loescher, asked her to have sex and that male coworkers posted offensive pictures of women, made sexual remarks and questioned Gabel's abilities because she was a woman.

The administration department records show a $100,000 settlement payment to Gabel, but a UW-Madison spokeswoman said the full settlement was for $250,000. The State Journal first reported on the additional $150,000 payment.

"In response to this incident, the university increased the number of supervisory positions in the unit on second and third shift to provide additional oversight and held discussions with supervisors to emphasize proper workplace conduct," Meredith McGlone said.