Ex-jail guard settles claim of harassment

ROCKLAND – A former Knox County Jail guard who filed a federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment has settled his case for $4,500.

Christopher Lee Halco of Waldoboro claimed he was sexually harassed by female supervisors and that his constitutional and civil rights were violated while he was employed at the jail.

The lawsuit named Knox County, Sheriff Daniel Davey and each of the county’s three commissioners, A. Mason Johnson of Thomaston, Lawrence F. Nash of Camden and Robert G. Duke Jr. of Rockport, as defendants in the case. Duke is no longer a commissioner.

In January, the Knox County Superior Court case was moved to federal court, where it was expected to go the trial this month.

On Friday, Davey confirmed a June 10 settlement for $4,500.

Halco had previously filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission, which was dismissed June 10, 2002, when the commission found there were no grounds to believe that unlawful sexual discrimination in employment had occurred against Halco by the county.

According to Davey, the Maine County Commissioners Association risk pool opted to settle the case rather than take it to court. “It was a business decision,” Davey said Friday. “I felt that we did everything right.”