Female sheriff convicted of being bully boss from hell and taxpayers are on the hook for $250,000

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A Georgia sheriff was ruled by a federal court to be a workplace bully, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for her actions.

DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox was found liable by a federal jury on Monday for creating a hostile work environment for female jail officers, and was ordered to pay them $250,000.

Six former staffers of the DeKalb County Jail, which is run by Maddox's office, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her in 2022.

They alleged that they were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment due to Maddox's 'failure to address an endemic, well-known culture of sexual harassment of female staff by inmates.' 

According to the lawsuit, the former officers made numerous complaints to their commanders and Maddox of the dangerous and sexually hostile work environment at the jail. 

'[The former jailers] expressed numerous concerns, including inmates constantly 'popping out' of cells due to compromised cell door locks, inmates masturbating within close proximity of female detention officers, and inmates entering communal areas unclothed,' the filing stated.

One of the staffers who worked at the jail for 16 years claimed that 'the sexually hostile work environment was the worst under the current sheriff, Maddox.'

The former staffer's attorney, James Radford, told the Daily Mail his team and their clients 'feel gratified' by the jury's finding.

'We worked for years to develop the evidence in this case, and the county fought us hard,' he said.

'It is a wonderful feeling to have a jury of regular citizens hear the evidence and decide in your favor.'

Radford added that the $250,000 in damages and attorney's fees was paid for by the county, although it is unclear which budget the money was taken from.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office declined to comment, saying in a statement, 'Sheriff Maddox has no comment on the case, including the additional questions.'

The Daily Mail contacted Maddox's attorneys for comment.

One of the officers, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing her current law enforcement job, told WSB-TV the lawsuit was not about money, but about getting accountability.

'I don't care where you're working, you should not have to endure being sexually harassed,' she said.

'The most hurtful part of the whole situation is the narrative they were trying to push, 'It's part of the job.'

The officer added, 'The money is nice, but the most important part or reason for this is for change. I guess because she feels she's the sheriff, she doesn't have accountability.' 

In December, three armed and dangerous inmates, including a murder suspect, escaped from the DeKalb County Jail.

At the time, Maddox described the jail as an 'aging facility that´s deteriorating right before our eyes.' 

The inmates were caught the next day after they commandeered a terrified Lyft driver's car to reach south Florida before she was rescued and they were captured.