Female Workers Sue the Virginia Department of Corrections, Claiming Body Searches Discriminate Against Women

Three former and current female employees of the Virginia Department of Corrections are pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the agency, saying its policies on body scanners discriminate against women.

The inability of the state’s body-scanner technology to distinguish between contraband like drugs and menstrual products such as tampons, menstrual cups and intrauterine devices has led to multiple women being strip searched and in some cases terminated for using menstrual products, allege Mallory Patterson, Emily Comer and Carla McDowney.

“No one should have their job threatened, be subjected to a strip search, or have their employment terminated simply because they are menstruating, using a feminine hygiene product, or using a contraceptive device at work,” states the women’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia this November. “Such conduct is sex discrimination in violation of federal law.”

Read the source article at Virginia Mercury