Three former employees of the Adams County Coroner's Office said they endured years of abuse by their supervisors.

In a lawsuit filed Dec. 31, the women claim they endured a hostile work environment at the Adams County Coroner's Office from 1999 until last year. The women say they were passed over for promotions, verbally abused and forced to perform duties that they felt were a health hazard because of their sex.

"We were made to wash contaminated items that should've been wrapped in biohazard and properly disposed of," said plaintiff Denise Marshall. "One of the chief deputy coroners called me into his office from the first day and told me that my place as a woman was in the home and with my husband and my kids."

The women said that no one would help them when they went to the human resources department to explain their concerns over alleged abusive practices and possible public health violations.

"It was multiple supervisors, multiple officials, human resources. You know, we went through many channels and many people," said plaintiff Bree Steinke.

According to the papers filed with the lawsuit, the women said a human resources person told them, "Sometimes things are crappy and that's just the way they are."

The current coroner said none of the alleged harassment happened on his watch.

"That hasn't happened while I've been here. Everybody is treated equally. To me the gender doesn't matter. It's the ability of the individual," said Adams County coroner James Hibbard.

The lawsuit alleges that the female investigators were the lowest paid despite education or qualifications, that female investigators weren't given regular salary increases or evaluations, that a supervisor regularly shouted at them and verbally attacked them, that they were referred to in derogatory terms, and that sexual topics were regularly discussed in the workplace.

Officials with the Adams County Attorney's Office said they haven't had a chance to review the lawsuit and didn't want to comment until they did.

In Adams County, the only requirement to be a coroner is residency. No special training or educational background is necessary.