Prison system settles suit filed by ex-CO

May 15--PITTSBURGH -- The state Department of Corrections has agreed to pay a former corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution in Findley Township$35,000 to settle a lawsuit that alleged sex and disability discrimination and retaliation.

Amanda Kulkin was awarded $19,257 from the settlement, and the rest was allocated to the law firm that represented her, according to the settlement contract obtained from the department by a Right-to-Know Law request filed by The Herald.

The contract states the settlement is a compromise to avoid "protracted litigation," and is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability.

Kulkin, formerly of New Castle, now of Wesley Chapel, Fla., was hired Sept. 3, 2006, and resigned Sept. 30, 2012, although she called her leaving a "constructive discharge" because of a hostile work environment.

She said she enjoyed her job and was treated fairly until she suffered a knee injury away from work in 2012.

After Kulkin returned to work, she was the target to repeated sexual comments and verbal and written catcalls, and subject of a fake work transfer request and a fake news article that accused her of abusing leave time, she said.

The department claimed Kulkin failed to report most of her allegations, and the one she did report was addressed.

It also said she went from a "good officer" to one who began to have problems showing up for work and did not provide the department with valid contact information or respond to phone calls and certified letters.

Kulkin filed a 10-count suit Feb. 5, 2015, in U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh.

The parties announced a settlement had been reached April 27 in a court filing and the department provided a copy of the settlement contract Thursday.

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