A Michigan Department of Corrections employee filed a lawsuit alleging that the prison system’s former spokesperson coerced her into having sex with him while he was her supervisor.
Marko Law and Runyan Law Group filed the lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court against former MDOC Director of Media Relations Christopher Gautz on behalf of Lisa Gass. The prison system and its director, Heidi Washington, were also named in the suit for alleged retaliation and creating a hostile work environment.
“Ms. Gass’s story is right out of the MDOC playbook,” said attorney Jon Marko. “Throughout my career, I have seen the MDOC repeatedly turn the victim into the target. Instead of protecting their employees from sexual harassment and abuse, they try to destroy the victims courageous enough to come forward.”
MDOC released the following statement about the lawsuit:
“On June 3, 2023, Chris Gautz informed MDOC for the first time that he was involved in a sexual relationship with his subordinate employee. MDOC took prompt, remedial steps to protect the subordinate employee and immediately began investigating the circumstances surrounding the disclosure.
The same day that Gautz informed the department, he requested a federally protected leave of absence. Gautz resigned while on leave before the investigation concluded and before the department could take any action against him. The department denies any claims of retaliation made by the subordinate employee.
MDOC maintains a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment at any level and is dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of its employees against sexual harassment."
MDOC
WARNING: Some of the details included in this lawsuit are graphic.
Sexually harassing text messages
Gass began working as the social media coordinator for the prison system in September 2021.
Gautz was her immediate supervisor, while Washington was her second-level supervisor, according to the suit.
The lawsuit alleges that Gautz created a sexually hostile work environment as soon as Gass began working for MDOC. She had lived in Wayne County and worked some days from home.
He allegedly sent her sexually harassing text messages and frequently made unsolicited sexual comments toward her.
In the month that she started the job, Gautz allegedly told her that he “had to leave the office to have sex with an undisclosed female,” the lawsuit says.
Then, on Christmas Day of 2021, Gautz allegedly sent her multiple videos of a female MDOC worker performing oral sex on him with a message that said “my secretary trying to keep her job.”
Gass allegedly told Gautz that she had the intention of marrying her boyfriend at the time in the hope that it would encourage Gautz to stop sexually harassing her.
But the unwanted sexual behavior allegedly continued.
Coerced into performing sexual acts
In March 2022, Gass and Gautz were driving together during work hours to tour an MDOC facility when Gass began crying because she found out that her boyfriend had cheated on her, according to the lawsuit.
Gautz then pulled the car into a rest area, exposed his penis and coerced Gass into performing oral sex on him, the lawsuit says.
Then, in May 2022, Gass and Gautz allegedly drove to the Mt. Pleasant hotel together for a work conference.
Once they arrived, Gautz asked for a key to her room, and feeling pressured to comply, Gass gave him a key, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after that, Gautz allegedly barged into her room and coerced her into having sex with him during work hours.
Gass believed that performing oral sex on Gautz and agreeing to have sex with him was necessary to keep her job, based on the previous message he had sent her about his secretary, according to the lawsuit.
Despite Gass frequently telling Gautz that she was uncomfortable and wanted their relationship to be strictly professional, the lawsuit alleges he continued to coerce her into engaging in sexual acts with him for more than a year.
Supervisor allegedly resigns after realizing sexual harassment would be exposed
The lawsuit says this continued until June 2023, when Gautz became aware that his sexual harassment would soon be exposed.
The lawsuit claims that that’s when Gautz told MDOC that he and Gass were previously in a “consensual relationship” and allegedly falsely reported that when he ended their relationship, Gass sexually harassed him.
Because of this, Gass was the target of an MDOC investigation, the lawsuit says. During the investigation, Gass told the MDOC investigators about Gautz’s sexual harassment, she said.
Instead of disciplining Gautz, MDOC let him voluntarily resign, according to the lawsuit.
Retaliation, increased scrutiny
The lawsuit alleges that after reporting the sexual harassment, MDOC and Washington refused to reclassify Gass’ position, which they were in the process of doing before the harassment was reported. Gass would’ve received a “significantly higher pay” if the reclassification had gone through.
She was also the subject of increased scrutiny following the sexual harassment report, according to the lawsuit.
One of her job duties was to submit a weekly report to Washington, and before the report, she had never received any criticism from Washington. But after that, Gass began receiving criticism every week.
Then, within the next couple of weeks, Gass was required to have her supervisor review her reports before submitting them, according to the lawsuit.
Gass was also removed from her role in designing and creating MDOC’s website, and had her responsibilities in operating the prison system’s social media accounts decreased as well. They also allegedly wouldn’t let her attend networking events anymore.
“No one should ever feel like they need to have sex with their boss to have a successful career,” said attorney Zach Runyan. “Gass is just one of countless female employees that has been sexually abused and harassed within the MDOC. It’s time for the MDOC to finally accept accountability and start supporting female employees that have been victimized under its watch.”