Ex-South Dakota prison official: Firing was retaliation

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former supervisor in South Dakota’s prison system alleges in a lawsuit that she was fired last year in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment from the warden of the prison. Stefany Bawek is the former director of a work program at the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. She filed the lawsuit in federal court Monday (March 14, 2022). She alleges that the Department of Corrections violated her civil rights, including punishing her for reporting workplace misconduct and discriminating against her based on her sex. Bawek was fired last year along with several other top Corrections Department officials after Gov. Kristi Noem launched an investigation into sexual harassment and low staff morale at the prison.