When she began her job at the fire department of The Woodlands Township in July 2013, Julie Thomas believed her skin was sufficiently thick to endure a work environment dominated almost entirely by “men with big egos.”

But Thomas, hired as a customer service representative when she was 22, said she soon felt overwhelmed as she became the target of sexually charged comments, jokes and explicit sexual propositions, allegations she detailed in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the township last month in a Houston federal court.

The lawsuit against The Woodlands Township alleges that Thomas was subjected to sexual harassment in a hostile work environment where four women work with more than 100 men. When she complained to a supervisor and to the Human Resources office, she contends she was fired in retaliation.

Officials with The Woodlands Township and its Fire Department denied the accusations, and countered that Thomas was discharged for poor work performance. Thomas said the township didn’t investigate her complaints of sexual harassment until after she was fired.

It is the latest suit to be filed amid renewed interested nationwide in sexual harassment claims, particularly in fire departments. The Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit recently accusing the city of Houston of creating a hostile work environment for two female firefighters by failing to act on at least nine complaints starting in 2009 about offensive treatment.

Read more: Houston Fire Department feels heat after discrimination lawsuit

The lawsuit against The Woodlands Township describes the fire department there as an “old-boys club or a fraternity house, ” where members “created a severe and pervasive hostile work environment based on sex.”

The harassment escalated in 2015 after Thomas began a weight loss regime, her suit says.

In one incident, according to the lawsuit, Thomas said Battalion Chief Jason Washington told her that she was “looking good these days” and suggested that they could have sex. The chief assured Thomas that her husband, firefighter Josh Thomas, could be kept in the dark.

“Come on Julie, Josh doesn’t have to know,” said Washington, according to suit.

In another incident, the lawsuit describes that Lt. Thomas Richardson “came up to Mrs. Thomas and made sound effects that mimicked a motorboat noise, which is frequently associated with placing one’s lips on a woman’s breasts, and said ‘Oh girl, the things I can do to you.’”

Thomas alleged she reported the incidents to her supervisor and the HR office, but no action was taken.

‘Crying almost every day’

In an interview, Thomas said she reached a turning point in August 2015, as she walked through the fire station holding about 12 small promotional footballs in her arms for an event for firefighters’ children. Richardson allegedly told her, “Damn girl, I didn’t know you could juggle so many balls so close to your face,” and then starting laughing about it.” The incident was also described in the lawsuit.

Richardson later bragged about the incident in front of her husband and other people, she said.

“You know, you cannot take it anymore when you are crying almost every day at work and home because of it,” Thomas said. “My husband is a firefighter. I didn’t want him to intervene because he could lose his job ... but I had enough, and I demanded an investigation.”

Read more: Feds sue Houston over sex discrimination, retaliation claims at fire department

Her lawsuit alleges that The Woodlands Township and the Fire Department promised that her complaints have been investigated and “dealt (with) in an appropriate manner.”

However, Thomas said she didn’t receive any information about the results or actions taken.

The lawsuit contends that township officials fabricated reasons to discipline Thomas, and terminated her in February 2016 in retaliation for her complaints.

The Woodlands Township and the Fire Department denied the allegations.

“We engaged a third party to conduct a thorough investigation about Mrs. Thomas’ allegations,” said Carla Cotropia, a spokesperson for the township who also is the chief attorney at Cotropia Mediation, a legal firm that specializes in sexual harassment cases.

Cotropia said Thomas was fired on the grounds of poor performance at work “unrelated to her sexual harassment claims.” Thomas said the township has not provided her or her attorney any documentation supporting their investigation and disciplinary actions taken, although the city said they will be presented to the court.

Speaking on behalf of the officers accused in the lawsuit, Cotropia said that Washington “denied making any comment ever (to Thomas) about sex or her body.”

About Richardson, Cotropia said the lieutenant and Mrs. Thomas used to be friends and had a “social relationship joking and texting back and forth.” She added that “Richardson denies some of the things she said he did,” but said that Thomas “was saying things (in a text message) that were not appropriate for the workplace… neither of them should have been doing it (during) work hours.”

Thomas recognized she and her husband had a friendship with Richardson, but she said the officer’s behavior continued even after “asking him many times to stop” and reporting it.

Houston attorney Thomas Padgett, who is representing Thomas, said the third-party investigation that took place at the township was conducted after Thomas was fired “as a way to create a fence against a sexual harassment lawsuit.”

Empowered to challenge

Sexual harassment cases, however, tend to be hard to prove.

“These types of cases are inherently difficult, and oftentimes it’s a ‘she says, he says’ kind of litigation from two different views of the facts,” said David Feldman, a former Houston city attorney during Mayor Annise Parker’s administration. Feldman is an expert on government and employment law but is not involved in The Woodlands litigation.

Feldman said a judge would typically want to see if the employer had a clear set of procedures in place to deal with sexual harassment complaints, and determine if they were promptly and correctly followed.

Feldman said a significant part of the evidence that could arise in this case is whether Thomas was interviewed by the city, and when.

Padgett said Thomas was never interviewed during her employment, while Cotropia, the spokesperson for the township, said that they will present a “solid case” in court, without offering details.

Read more: Houston responds to DOJ sex harassment lawsuit

Feldman said sexual harassment cases are frequent, particularly in work environments where many men are in close proximity to a few women.

“There is nothing novel about this case,” Feldman said.

What is new, however, is that women may now feel more empowered to stand up to sexual harassment in the context of the national #MeToo movement.

The Houston Chronicle requested copies of the fire department’s investigation of Thomas’s claims, but a spokeswoman said the township has asked the Texas Attorney General for a ruling to allow them to be withheld.