A new trial date has been set in a federal court lawsuit filed by a former jailer at the Baxter County Detention Center.
Tabatha L. King who worked at the jail beginning in April 2018 until she was terminated April 23, 2021, filed the civil suit in mid-December last year. She alleges she was sexually assaulted by a fellow employee and ultimately fired because she would not keep quiet about the alleged incident.
The trial of the case was initially set to begin in mid-July but has now been continued until late September. The delay is based on what King is reported to have said during a deposition in late January.
She was reported to have testified she had been in touch with the office of 14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge “pushing” to have the defendant in her civil case, Steven Goode, a former sergeant at the sheriff’s office, charged with rape “as soon as possible.”
Rape is a Class Y felony, the most serious classification of crimes not punishable by death. A person convicted of a Class Y felony can face a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Defense lawyers contend that making Goode the simultaneous target of both civil and criminal charges would put him in an “untenable” position in terms of answering questions in discovery. If Goode chooses to defend himself against plaintiff’s claims and participates in discovery during the civil case, he risks self-incrimination in any criminal case that might be filed.
If rape charges are filed against Goode, they would be “based on the same set of circumstances as are alleged in the civil suit and would force Goode to assert his 5th Amendment rights in the criminal case,” his lawyers argue.
Goode’s attorney said a continuance should be in force until a decision is made on whether to file rape charges. The lawyers said they would provide periodic updates to the court on the situation.
Prosecuting Attorney Ethredge said Tuesday that unless more evidence comes to light, his office would not be filing rape charges against Goode.
ALLEGED INCIDENT OUTLINED
King’s lawsuit alleges Goode sexually assaulted her in April 2019 as the pair worked together moving inmate mattresses into a storeroom. King claims that after the assault took place, Goode told her she had “better keep her mouth shut or there would be consequences.”
The defense has pointed out that King did not immediately report the 2019 incident.
Defendants in the case have filed an answer to King’s civil suit in which every allegation related to the encounter is denied.
In addition, King claims she was ultimately fired because of negative reports Goode filed after she finally did go to others on the sheriff’s office staff and reported the initial assault and other alleged problems she had encountered in the workplace.
She claims in the civil suit that she reported that Goode was sending her unwanted, sexually explicit photos of himself. It was further alleged in King’s suit that Goode was sending similar material to other female employees at the sheriff’s office.
King alleges Goode’s actions were “permitted and condoned” by staff at the office and jail as well as Sheriff John Montgomery.
When she was terminated, King says she met with Montgomery, but he refused to discuss her allegations of sexual assault. In the defendant’s answer to the suit, it is admitted that Sheriff Montgomery would not discuss certain issues with King because those issues had to do with the possibility of King filing the federal court civil suit.
EEOC DISMISSAL
King first took her complaint to the Little Rock Area Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). After an investigation, the EEOC refused to pursue King’s case on several grounds. In a letter to King dated September 2, 2021, an EEOC investigator wrote he had found that the negative evaluation King alleged was written by Goode was in retaliation for her reporting the sexual assault was “not remarkably unfavorable.”
The notice that King’s EEOC case was being dismissed also contains information that King “had not made any attempt to rebut the negative items that were in the evaluation. In the answer to King’s lawsuit, the defendants allege King was offered space to make comments, but did not avail herself of the opportunity.
The EEOC report states further that King had not been suspended from her job as she had claimed, but rather her access to weapons was “temporarily removed due to safety concerns” on the part of sheriff’s office staff. The concern was allegedly based on King’s use of tranquilizers. As to her termination, the EEOC investigator said he had found King “was discharged following an altercation with a co-worker in which your official statement was inconsistent with the facts.”
The EEOC case was closed without further action due to “insufficient evidence to show a causal relationship between the alleged 2019 incident involving Sgt. Goode, the negative evaluation written by him and her eventual firing.” The EEOC closed its report by saying the available evidence did not allow the agency to conclude there was a violation of the laws enforced by EEOC.
King then filed the civil lawsuit in federal court. She is seeking relief for a number of alleged actions — including her suffering from sexual harassment, being in a hostile work environment and for retaliation she claims after reporting the unwanted sexual activity. She seeks back pay, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages and attorney fees and costs.
The lawsuit is set to be heard in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
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