The New York State Division of Human Rights awarded a lesbian prison guard $850,000 after a judge said she had been subjected to mental and physical threats by a co-worker at a New York prison. The award also included provisions to create a training program in the state prison system to prevent discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.

The complaint was filed in 2003, with prison guard Alicia S. Humig claiming that a fellow officer had been harassing her for nearly a year about being gay. The judge wrote that "this case reflects the most disturbing nightmare that any employee could find herself in" and suggested that the work environment she found herself in was one where she "could have been killed" for being a gay woman.

Judge Erazo also found that the corrections department ignored the obvious harassment and retaliated when Officer Humig submitted written complaints against the harassing officer in 2002 and 2003.

A spokesman for the corrections department says they plan to appeal the ruling because officials believe the award is excessive.