AUBURN — Another woman has filed suit against Androscoggin County with allegations that she was discriminated against while serving as a guard in the county jail.

Elsie-Kay Banks of Auburn said she was “picked on and made fun of” by an all-male crew because she is a woman, according to documents filed this week in Androscoggin County Superior Court. She alleges that her supervisor, Lt. Kevin Harmon, retaliated against her with poor performance reviews after she complained.

She was fired in August 2009.

Banks is the third female ex-guard in three years to sue the county, alleging sex discrimination.

Banks has requested lost wages, legal fees and punitive damages.

In February, former guard Lisa Webster ended her three-year-old suit. Webster signed a statement saying there was no wrongdoing on the part of the county, and the county paid her a “small monetary settlement,” Waterville lawyer Peter Marchesi said.

He represented the county in Webster’s suit and one brought by ex-guard Lisa Levesque, whose case is awaiting trial. He expects to handle the newest case, too, he said Thursday.

“The county acted entirely appropriately,” Marchesi said. He said Banks’ case is “absolutely without merit.”

Banks began working for the county in March 2009.

According to her lawsuit, she grew tired of the behavior of the other guards and complained to Lt. Harmon.

He responded by yelling, punishing her with write-ups and differential behavior, Banks said in her suit.

The Sun Journal was unsuccessful in its attempts to reach Banks’ lawyer, Saco attorney Guy Loranger. He also represented Webster and Levesque.

Harmon also turned up in all three cases.

According to Webster’s complaint, filed in 2008, Harmon made offensive comments about her, including degrading slurs about her weight and personal hygiene. She said she made her treatment known to jail managers, who failed to take action. She claimed jail managers retaliated against her, including not allowing her to work overtime hours.

Similarly, Levesque alleged that she was denied privileges given to other officers, such as parking and cellphone use on the job. She says she was ordered to do extra tasks.

She quit in 2009.

Harmon quit in late 2009 after he and other guards were videotaped at the jail playing pranks on each other while on duty.

Marchesi insisted there is no pattern to be found among the lawsuits.

“Each one of the cases has to be evaluated independently,” he said.

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