HOCKING COUNTY, Ohio — Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan Black is facing accusations of sexual discrimination and retaliating against two of his former female employees who reported their concerns about the work environment.
It comes as Black is up for re-election. He is being challenged by three other Republican candidates in the March primary election.
In the lawsuit, a former employee accuses Black of using his position of power to pressure her into having sex with him twice, then retaliating against her when she refused to continue that relationship.
The lawsuit compares the prosecutor’s office to a “frat house” and accuses Black of "a constant stream of unwelcome, unsolicited stream of demeaning, degrading, sexist and offensive comments".
It also says he "displayed extremely moody and belligerent behavior, which had a disturbing and frightening impact on all female staff”.
Black referred to his office couch as his “porn couch” and joked with two female employees that he’d like to film them on the couch in bikinis, according to the lawsuit.
It also alleges he made jokes about one of the plaintiffs terminating her pregnancy, then said he was happy when she had a miscarriage.
Black also allegedly sent shirtless photos of himself to staff.
The women said they brought up the concerns about the work environment to their superiors, but no action was taken.
Eventually, the former employees said they had no option but to resign from their positions.
Black did not want to comment on the pending litigation.
When asked if he would consider resigning, he said he would continue with business as usual.
Officials at Hocking County, which is also being sued, did not want to comment.
Black will be on the ballot on March 19. One of his challengers, Alisa Turner, used to work with Black in the prosecutor’s office.
The Ohio Constitution has a process for elected officials to be removed from office if a complaint of misconduct is filed, through impeachment or a recall election.