Ex-Stetson clerk alleges head selectman sexually harassed her

A former town clerk has sued the town of Stetson and the head selectman, alleging he sexually harassed her by calling her a “sex goddess” and threatening to spank her if she did not do as he directed.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Wednesday – the same day Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross reported to Stetson selectmen that some $150,000 in town funds had been improperly recorded, but that after corrections the town had a positive balance of $40,000.

The former clerk, Corinne E. Babcock, 20, of Stetson, was fired Jan. 8, according to the lawsuit, after questions were raised about the bookkeeping.

She alleges in her lawsuit that Selectman George Hockstadter carried a gun when he was in the town office and stole items from a food pantry. She alleges that Hockstadter referred to her using sexually demeaning terms and frequently called her “just a little girl” who “didn’t know anything.”

The lawsuit is the most recent episode in a nine-month town drama, which began with the resignations of 10 town employees and recently resumed with problems over improperly recorded town funds.

“I have no idea” about the lawsuit, Hockstadter said when reached by phone at the town office Thursday evening. “I haven’t been served or anything. After that, I have nothing else to say.”

The lawsuit was filed by Babcock’s attorney, David G. Webbert of Augusta. It alleges that the town violated Babcock’s rights of free speech, due process and equal protection to be free of sex discrimination.

The suit, which seeks a jury trial, asks that Babcock be reinstated, awarded back pay, benefits, compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.

Babcock was one of two clerks who joined the town staff after 10 employees resigned in June 2006.

In their resignation letters, many of the employees cited alleged disrespectful and accusatory comments made during a public hearing by Hockstadter and David Buchstaber, the only other acting selectman for the town.

Babcock was a “conscientious and hard-working employee who was repeatedly commended by the Town’s Selectmen for her job performance,” according to her lawsuit.

However, in the “Selectman’s Corner” of the Stetson Public Library newsletter, Buchstaber wrote that “Ms. Babcock had been spoken to several times over the last five months regarding the necessity for her to be more organized and to clean up her work area.”

He also wrote that on Jan. 4, then-Selectman Don Carroll and former Town Clerk Dennell Ham were granted permission by all selectmen to review Babcock’s records. The files were “such a mess” that the selectmen had former Town Clerk Judy Biggar put things back in order, Buchstaber wrote.

Buchstaber was not available for comment Thursday because he is ill, according to his wife.

The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department became involved Feb. 2, when residents asked Sheriff Ross to determine whether money had been stolen from the town office or whether its inaccurate account balances resulted from bad bookkeeping.

In a letter written by Ross and distributed during Wednesday night’s selectmen’s meeting, Ross said all but two of 33 missing checks were located in the town office. The checks were voided, but that was not reflected in the town’s records. The remaining two checks were written in September 2006, and a bank confirmed neither was cashed.

Ross wrote that nearly $150,000 had been improperly recorded, but that after the corrections the town has a $40,000 balance.

In an interview Thursday, Ross said he encouraged the town to proceed with a formal audit and has offered to have deputies present at future selectmen’s meetings.

Babcock has lived in Stetson her entire life, her attorney said, and wanted to spend her career working in her hometown.

“Local control is a great thing,” Webbert said Thursday, “but to have the head of the town behaving in this manner is totally unacceptable and needs to be remedied as quickly as possible. This is a totally backward view of women.”

BDN reporter Judy Harrison contributed to this story.