By JEAN ORTIZ

Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Eight more current and former Dakota County corrections officers sued the northeastern Nebraska county, its sheriff and others Monday, echoing allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination lodged by their colleagues.

Dakota County Sheriff James Wagner and Chief Deputy Rodney Herron pressured female employees into sexual relationships, made unwanted, crude, sexually charged comments toward female employees and treated those who refused their advances as outcasts, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

But only one of the eight plaintiffs filed a complaint with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission - a first step for anyone serious about such an allegation, said Lincoln attorney Vincent Valentino, who represents the county in the matter. None filed a grievance with a labor union, he added.

He called the allegations suspicious.

Separate phone messages left Monday for Wagner and Herron weren't immediately returned.

Three other lawsuits making similar allegations were filed earlier this year.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs, meanwhile, have called it a messy case in which employees weren't protected from superiors who misused their powers for their own sexual gratification.

"The pervasiveness of this conduct ... was not only the custom, policy and practice of Dakota County, it was covered up at the highest levels of county government and condoned by Dakota County," according to the latest lawsuit, filed by Sioux City, Iowa, attorney Brian Buckmeier.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

The county investigated related claims in 2007, but its findings were never made public.

The report was shared with Attorney General Jon Bruning's office, which found that the allegations did not rise to the level of a criminal matter, according to a letter dated July 30, 2007.

The latest lawsuit additionally alleges other forms of mistreatment, including that Herron threw eggs at male employees and sprayed them with pepper spray. Two of the men, Ronald Fink Jr. of Harrison, Neb. and John Gilles of Sioux City, Iowa, also allege Herron threw hand sanitizer in their eyes.

Valentino said he was checking with county officials, but said he was unaware of any complaint regarding an alleged assault.

"I'm unaware at this point that that ever happened," he said. "Which I also think is suspicious."

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