Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Tarrant County JP

This report contains graphic descriptions.

A woman has filed a federal lawsuit against a Tarrant County justice of the peace, accusing him of forcing her to have sex with him or be fired.

The woman says she was forced to perform oral sex on Russ Casey 20 times over nearly five years and was fired when she told him she wanted to stop, according to the lawsuit.

Though she is named in the lawsuit, the Star-Telegram is not identifying the woman because of the nature of the accusations.

The lawsuit says she worked as a court manager for Tarrant County for 22 years and alleges that she was wrongfully terminated on Aug. 22, 2014. According to a county official, the woman is still employed by Tarrant County.

The initial instance of sexual harassment occurred in December 2009, when Casey exposed himself to the woman, according to the lawsuit.

Casey, the Precinct 3 JP, who works in Hurst and Southlake, told her to perform oral sex on him and she said “no,” the lawsuit says. Afterward, Casey told her that he had been good to her, that he had loaned her money and kept her employed, and that she had better return the favor, the lawsuit alleges.

The woman “complied and performed oral sex on Judge Casey,” the lawsuit says.

Casey was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Tarrant County officials have not seen the lawsuit and will have to speak with their attorneys before commenting, county spokesman Marc Flake said.

The woman’s attorney, Andrea S. Loveless, did not return calls from the Star-Telegram.

Casey sexually harassed and physically abused the woman during work hours, at the office or at conferences, while threatening her job security daily, according to her lawsuit. Casey would expose himself to the woman in his office and in court, lock the door to his office, and force her to touch his genitals and provide him with oral sex, intercourse or both, the lawsuit says.

In December 2013, after the woman’s only son died, she told Casey that she did not want continue having sex because “she felt like her son was watching from heaven,” according to the suit.

Casey refused to stop, the lawsuit says.

The woman called the Tarrant County human resources office two times to complain about Casey, once each in 2012 and in 2013, the lawsuit says.

The woman who answered the telephone in 2012 offered no assistance, and the woman who answered in 2013 said that Casey was an elected official and that Tarrant County could do nothing about it, the lawsuit says.

The woman said she met with the county’s civil service department in August 2014 and told officials about the sexual abuse and showed them a dress and blouse that had Casey’s dried semen, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also lists a number of witnesses who were aware of how “Judge Casey subjected [the woman] and her female co-workers to his sexual harassment and advances.”

The suit also says that when the woman at times refused to have sex with Casey, he “threatened to terminate her, screamed obscenities at her in front of other staff, accused her of embezzlement, investigated her, and terminated her.”

Casey fought off challenges in last year’s Republican primary from Lenny Lopez and Christina Fox in a race that ended in a runoff against Lopez.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Tarrant County JP."