County Settles Sex Harassment Case Kootenai Denies Any Wrongdoing But Pays Ex-Secretary $7,500

Kootenai County has paid $7,500 to a former legal secretary who said she was fired for complaining about sexual harassment.

County Prosecutor Bill Douglas fired Carol Fowler last May, allegedly for tardiness and causing workplace disruptions.

But Fowler, 30, said she was fired for complaining to Douglas about another prosecutor’s unwelcomed lewd comments.

Commissioners and Douglas denied the harassment charge Tuesday and said the firing was justified. They said the complaint was settled because it had become a distraction.

“There was no wrongdoing by any county employee and there is no verification of her claim,” said Commissioner Dick Compton. “I say that emphatically. We just wanted to get on with business.”

Fowler contends a married attorney in her office had sought an intimate relationship with her. He repeatedly approached her, she charged in a tort claim filed in November.

Fowler, who worked five years for the county, said Tuesday she still believes she was fired because she was “dispensable” and Douglas did not want to confront the male attorney.

“I didn’t matter because I was just support staff,” she said. “I wasn’t as important.”

Fowler said Douglas had looked into her complaint himself rather than seeking an independent investigation from the personnel office.

Douglas, reached at a conference in Boise Tuesday, said the complaint was handled properly. He declined to elaborate.

“My office has taken a leadership role in educating the county on issues of sexual harassment,” he said.

Fowler said she had an unblemished personnel file and was among the office’s hardest workers. She said the county’s contention that she was fired for violating comp-time rules is ridiculous.

Fowler originally had sought in excess of $20,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement. She did not file a lawsuit.

The settlement was significantly less because she originally had sought lost wages, she said. But she was hired by another law firm in Ritzville, Wash., two days after being fired.