State to pay to settle corrections employee suit

The state will pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a Missouri corrections employee who said she was harassed by co-workers at two state prisons.

The payout was announced Monday in a monthly report by Attorney General Eric Schmitt. The settlement is nearly evenly divided between prison caseworker Jennifer LaFleur and her attorneys.

LaFleur alleged she was harassed while working at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph and the Kansas City Re-Entry Center. She said her male co-workers called her sexually explicit names, commented on her body and asked for sex.

The state has paid millions of dollars in numerous harassment cases filed by female state workers in recent years. The lawsuits cost Missouri at least $23 million in 2017.