Harassment settlements detail host of ugly incidents in Minn. state agencies

Settling the case against BCA then-Senior Special Agent Adam Castilleja, who also watched porn on his state-issued cell phone, cost taxpayers $117,500 in 2015, according to records released by Gov. Mark Dayton's administration in connection with a slew of information on sexual harassment claims released Friday.

Settling the case against the Stillwater prison cost $120,000.

All told, between 2012 and 2017, the state settled seven legal cases of sexual misconduct or harassment involving state employees, paying out a total of $709,500, according to the records, which were released in response to requests by local media outlets under the Minnesota Data Practices Act. All the settlements included statements wherein the state did not admit any wrongdoing.

Claim: BCA officer forced self on informant

Castilleja was suspended for 30 days without pay, reassigned to different duties and stripped of his senior agent title, according to 2015 disciplinary records. The reasons: He violated five BCA policies, including conduct unbecoming a peace officer for engaging in "unwelcome sexual advances/physical contact" and engaging in "any sexual contact or ... lewd behavior."

He could not be reached for comment Friday. He remains a BCA special agent, although he no longer works with confidential informants.

According to a 2014 lawsuit filed in federal court by a Jane Doe, Castilleja groped the woman's private parts and briefly forcibly performed oral sex on her in the back of his law enforcement vehicle. He also sent her text messages demanding she send him sexual images of herself, according to the suit and disciplinary records.

Castilleja had previously taken the woman into custody during a drug bust and used her for years as a confidential informant. Between October 2010 and April 2013, Castilleja submitted records showing he paid her $19,150 in BCA funds, but she said she didn't receive all the money, and the BCA records weren't in proper order, an internal affairs investigation found. He also promised her he would use his connections to assist in her desire to attain legal immigration status, according to the suit and the internal affairs probe.

The internal affairs investigation found he never acted on that pledge, although in the lawsuit the woman said when she refused his repeated advances, he used the issue as leverage to try to have sex with her. The investigation found she acquiesced to some of his demands, short of sex, in hopes of receiving his assistance.

An examination of Castilleja's state-issued cell phone found inappropriate websites bearing the names "momsinporn" and "amateurwives" among others.

Stillwater prison porn 'training manual'

In the state prison in Stillwater, a guard supervisor kept a black binder labeled "Staff Training Manual." Inside: copies of pornographic images. Inside his locker, more porn. The screensaver on his state computer varied, but it included topless women. On work computers: porn, with the faces of guards pasted on the people in the images.

He and another supervisor — both sergeants employed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections since the early 1990s — talked about sex frequently, including making gesticulations, grunts and other acts, in the presence of a female guard.

That's according to both the guard's 2014 lawsuit in Washington County court and a DOC internal investigation.

According to the woman's lawsuit, when she complained about the conditions, the men retaliated. "There are four of us and one of you," one guard told her.

She was left out of briefings and left isolated at posts, out of line-of-sight of other guards. She was told some of the inmates were planning to assault her, according to the lawsuit, which was settled in 2015 for $120,000.

In all, four male guards were disciplined, according to state records. The two supervisors were fired for sexual harassment and possession of porn. A third guard was suspended for three days without pay, and a fourth guard was given a letter of reprimand for unprofessional conduct.

Mike Hammer, a Stillwater prison warden fired for sexually explicit emails and comments, was not the warden at the time.

'The process didn't work'

Those cases — as well as the other four lawsuits that were settled — are examples of times when sexual harassment complaints weren't properly dealt with in accordance with state policy, Myron Frans, the state's top human resources officer, said Friday.

Frans, commissioner of the Office of Management and Budget, described the cases as "disturbing." When an employee feels her only option left is to file a lawsuit, "obviously the process didn't work," Frans said.

Frans released the data along with recommendations from a panel formed by Gov. Mark Dayton to examine sexual harassment in state government. The executive branch operations examined more than 33,000 employees.

266 complaints in six years

In all, there were 266 complaints of sexual harassment made in the various state agencies between 2012 and 2017. Of them:

• 135 were substantiated after an investigation

• 100 were determined to be unsubstantiated after an investigation

• 19 were determined to not need an investigation

• 12 are still pending.

The Department of Corrections received the most complaints, with 73. Some offices with relatively small staffs, including the governor's office, received no complaints.

The nature of those complaints covered a wide range, according to a review of the records by the Pioneer Press.

Many involved suspensions or reprimands for unwanted romantic advances at work, while others were more serious, such as a program manager who was fired after a subordinate woman came to his house, where he got on top of her on his couch and attempted to take her clothes off. She rebuffed him.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service