PORTLAND – Members of the state’s congressional delegation are among those asking the U.S. Postal Service to investigate sexual harassment problems and working conditions for women at offices in Maine.

At least five lawsuits have been filed since 1998, three of them at the agency’s Forest Avenue facility in Portland and two in Biddeford. The cases have resulted in jury awards and settlements of more than $2.6 million.

The most recent case concluded two weeks ago, when a U.S. District Court jury in Portland awarded $1.03 million to Stephanie Berry, a former maintenance worker at the plant.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, on Monday asked Postmaster General William Henderson and Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, to investigate working conditions for women at post offices in Maine.

Snowe asked Henderson to detail sexual harassment complaints at other postal service facilities, as well as the steps the agency has taken to address the problem.

Snowe spokesman Dave Lackey said Snowe has asked Thompson to consider holding hearings to determine whether sexual harassment is a problem for the postal service throughout the nation.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said he has also contacted officials at postal service headquarters in Washington and in Portland to ask for improvements in working conditions.

“Obviously, issues of sexual harassment are especially disturbing and I’ve let the postal service know of my concern,” he said. “We are watching carefully to see how the postal service handles this matter.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she plans to contact the postmaster in Portland and “offer any assistance he may need from my office in order to improve the working environment for employees.”

The National Organization for Women recently named the postal service “a merchant of shame” because of the number of Equal Employment Opportunity complaints that postal workers nationally have filed claiming sexual harassment.