Judge lowers $1.8 million award to former probation employee

A federal judge has reduced a $1.8 million award given to a former Idaho Department of Correction employee who sued over a hostile work environment because it exceeds the maximum amount allowed under federal law.

U.S. District Judge David Nye made the ruling Tuesday, dropping the award amount granted to former probation and parole employee Cynthia Fuller to $300,000.

Fuller sued the state in 2013, saying Idaho Department of Correction administrators created a hostile work environment and caused her emotional distress after she reported that a co-worker with whom she had been in a relationship had raped her.

The federal Civil Rights Act of 1991 limits the amount of money women can receive from employers for emotional distress in discrimination cases.

Nye has yet to rule on Fuller’s request for more than $1 million in attorney fees and other court costs.