An employee of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office was fired Aug. 31 after an internal investigation uncovered years of sexual harassment toward more than one of his coworkers.
TCSO sent out a news release on Aug. 31 announcing Sheriff Derek Sanders' decision. According to the release, the department first received an internal complaint about the civilian employee's behavior Aug. 4, and an investigation was launched immediately. As soon as the man was placed under investigation, he notified the department of his intent to retire Sept. 1.
The investigation continued and uncovered four years of sexual harassment from the same employee toward two separate female employees. He was then terminated the day before he planned to retire.
According to the news release, TCSO is currently in the process of reviewing all elements of sexual harassment within the department to make reporting incidents easier. It includes training and prevention, and focusing on victim-centered reporting methods. And the incident was reported to a local police agency for an independent criminal investigation.
