State cleared in sexual harassment lawsuit

A jury found in favor of the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services and the Department of Information Technology regarding sexual harassment allegations made by a former state employee, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced Friday

The jury handed down the decision late Thursday afternoon in the U.S. District Court in Reno.

Former employee Tom Loux sued the two state agencies alleging that his boss had sexually harassed him on an ongoing basis between the years 2000 and 2001.

Loux filed a formal sexual harassment complaint with the Nevada Attorney General's Office in August 2002.

The complaint was investigated by employees of the Department of Health and Human Services but was found to be unsubstantiated.

However, Loux decided to press on with a lawsuit based on the allegations. The case went to trial on Tuesday and after three days the jury handed down the unanimous decision in favor of the state.

"While we certainly take allegations of sexual harassment very seriously at the attorney general's office, in this case we were able to prove that the plaintiff's allegations were false," said Deputy Attorney General Andrea Nichols, who represented the state during the trial. "The attorney general's office not only has an obligation to ensure public safety, but also to defend our agency clients."