Jury Finds Sex Harassment, But Not Much

A jury has found in favor of a former state Transportation Department inspector who claimed she was sexually harassed and forced to quit after speaking out against alleged substandard road work.

But the verdict delivered on Thursday included monetary damages of only $1 for Cathy Cook, who claims she was denied promotions because of her gender before being harassed into quitting.

“I was shocked,” Cook said. “I don’t understand the money, but then I wasn’t in it for the money anyway. I was in it to prevent more bad roads from being built.”

Cook, 42, who worked in Idaho Falls, left the department in 1993 after claiming portions of Interstate 15, Holmes Avenue and Science Center Drive were built to substandard specifications and that records were falsified.

During his closing argument, department attorney Curt Thomsen flatly rejected the claims of substandard work, contending the allegations were simply Cook’s way of squeezing money out of the state.