A discrimination lawsuit was recently filed against the York County Sheriff's Office by a former DNA lab worker who claimed she was “discriminated against based on her gender and age.” According to the suit, the woman, 44-year-old Crystal Kissel, was “forced to resign in 2017, after she was threatened to be fired unless she quit.”Prior to being forced to resign, Kissel had voiced concerns “about the alleged altering of cases” and complained about being the target of age and sex discrimination, according to the suit.What kind of discrimination did Kissel allegedly endure, though? Well, according to the lawsuit, she was “subjected to a hostile work environment that included false allegations of an inappropriate relationship with another employee and loss of supervisory duties because of her age and gender.” In the suit, Kissel claims that a “2017 sex scandal at the sheriff’s office where her supervisor was suspended caused her to be placed in a hostile work environment where male employees were treated more favorably.”

Workplace Discrimination Graphic; image courtesy of mohamed_hassan via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

The sex scandal resulted in the arrest of one officer in July and two deputies ended up resigning over sex-related accusations.The suit also alleges that in September, Kissle was “kept from training programs, deprived of supervisory duties, her lab work was shut down, her phone was tapped and several male employees made inappropriate sexual or gender comments about her or to her.”To make matters worse, the lawsuit argues that Kissel was retaliated against by fellow employees when she “refused to do lab DNA testing that would have violated a suspect’s right to a fair trial, then was targeted after complaining about the office altering the case file.”Upon losing her job, Kissel claims she has suffered emotional distress and mental anguish and is upset over losing her source of income and benefits. Additionally, because of the hostile work environment, she was subjected to while employed, she notes in her suit that she's “lost the enjoyment of her life.”The sheriff's office, along with York County and Sheriff Kevin Tolson are named as defendants in the suit. However, Tolson has so far denied the allegations and pushed back against Kissel's claims that she was discriminated against. He said that Kissel was simple “disgruntled after losing her job.” In a statement, he said:“The plaintiff is a disgruntled former employee of the Sheriff’s Office. My office is in the process of drafting an answer to the complaint, and we look forward to vigorously defending these allegations.”

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Former York County sheriff’s office worker files sex discrimination lawsuitFormer employee files lawsuit against York Co. Sheriff’s Office over alleged sex, age discrimination