The Howard County government paid $75,000 of taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit, The Examiner has learned.
Howard County agreed to pay $42,000 in litigation costs, $25,000 in attorney fees and $8,000 in damages to police Officer Susan Ensko, who sued the department alleging sexual harassment, according to documents obtained Friday through a public information act request.
“It is expressly understood and agreed by the parties that this settlement is a compromise of a disputed claim,” states the Sept. 18 agreement, which was signed Sept. 18 by Howard County Executive James Robey, former police Chief Wayne Livesay, two other county officials and Ensko.
Ensko?s 2004 lawsuit had accused male officers of displaying pornography in the office, making lewd comments about women and attending “bull roasts,” which Ensko described as all-male social events involving prostitutes.
