Texas Agent sues state liquor board for sexual harassment Incidents have already resulted in discipline action against six agents

By Danny Robbins Associated Press DALLAS (AP) -- A female agent with Texas' liquor control board has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was repeatedly harassed by male colleagues, including behavior that was physically demeaning and verbally abusive, in a case that raises more questions about the culture at the agency. Leigh Sosebee's lawsuit against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which regulates alcohol sales, is the latest development in a case agency records show has already resulted in disciplinary action against six officers and agents, four of whom lost their jobs. The lawsuit, filed in September in Dallas, follows a series of episodes that cast an unfavorable light on the agency, including a raid at a gay bar that left a patron severely injured and the sexual assault of 16-year-old girl who was participating in a commission sting operation. Sosebee, 28, seeks unspecified damages from the agency where she has worked since 2007 for sexual harassment and retaliation she claims started in the Dallas office and continued even after she aired her complaints and was allowed to work elsewhere. "If I really thought things had changed, it wouldn't have come to this," she said in an interview. The complaint claims male co-workers called Sosebee offensive and derogatory names and vandalized her desk and computer. One refused to help her subdue a combative suspect, according to the lawsuit The lawsuit also says a male sergeant sent an inappropriate text about Sosebee and made her do pushups and sit ups as punishment for mistakes, a form of discipline that wasn't imposed on others in his command. TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the agency's administrator, Alan Steen, couldn't comment on Sosebee's claims because they are part of a pending lawsuit. Agency records recently obtained by The Associated Press show most of the claims in the lawsuit were supported by internal affairs investigations last year. The disciplinary action immediately followed, the records show. The sergeant who allegedly required Sosebee to do pushups and sit ups was fired. Three agents also were terminated, but they later won appeals that allowed them to resign instead. Two others, a sergeant and an agent, received suspensions. Just two years ago, the TABC fired two agents and an officer and changed numerous policies after a raid at a Fort Worth gay bar, the Rainbow Lounge, resulted in a patron being hospitalized for head trauma and stirred a national controversy. The commission that year also revised how it conducts sting operations aimed at catching businesses serving alcohol to minors when an agent based in Bastrop was arrested for sexually assaulting a teen working with him. The agent, who was fired immediately after his arrest, has since pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Sosebee's attorney, Andrea Loveless, said she believes her client's case is yet another example of the attitudes that guide the agency's agents and officers. "The TABC is still very much a good 'ol boys club," Loveless said. "Leigh knew there would be a certain amount of joking she'd have to deal with. It's just that, once it got beyond that point, it wasn't tolerable." One of the agents allowed to resign after initially being fired for his treatment of Sosebee, Victor Bulos, confirmed he used a derogatory term to describe her in a conversation with another male agent. But he said he didn't believe the matter merited his dismissal and cited other cases where agents were punished far less severely for more serious infractions. "We were shocked when we were terminated," Bulos said. "I think they were just trying to appease (Sosebee) because she's a female agent." Bulos blamed the Rainbow Lounge incident for creating an environment at the agency that's "way too political" and said he'd decided to leave before Sosebee's allegations came to light. Sosebee said the harassment began after she complained to a supervisor about a particularly malicious and offensive comment from a male co-worker. She said she didn't want to do the pushups and sit ups, performed in an isolated part of the Dallas office at the end of her shifts, but didn't believe she had any choice. "By that point, I just wanted to do whatever I could to keep my job," she said. Sosebee contends that, even after she was allowed to move to other offices, she was subjected to continued abuse, including increased scrutiny and unfair punishment for minor transgressions. She's now working as an agent in the Arlington office but only recently was allowed to move into that role after months on desk duty, she said. "I still deal with this every day," she said. "I have a huge black 'X' on my back because I'm 'that girl, the one who caused all those problems,' when all I did was stand up for myself and tell the truth." Only 33 of the 253 agents and officers working for the TABC are women. That ratio is typical for police agencies, said Penny Harrington, the former police chief in Portland, Ore., and co-author of a book on sexual harassment in law enforcement. Harrington said the allegation that Sosebee was forced to do pushups and sit ups to atone for her mistakes is "absolutely outrageous." She called it a prime example of how women in law enforcement are harassed. "They are singled out for all kinds of behavior and forced to do things they shouldn't have to do," Harrington said. "If they don't do them, they get in trouble for being insubordinate. If they do them, they are demeaned. They can't win." Published: Wed, Dec 14, 2011