PEORIA – A woman contending she was unjustly fired from her job after complaining that a co-worker took nude photos of her without her consent and showed them to others at work has sued her former employer in U.S. District Court.

Carol S. Anglin, 38, now of Decatur is suing Preco Electronics Inc., and the company that recently purchased it, Vansco Electronics Inc.

Anglin, formerly of Pekin, worked at Preco in Morton for two years, according to the complaint, filed last week. The company designs and manufacturers electronics systems.

The complaint alleges that in August 2003, Mitch Simmons, Anglin’s co-worker, took photos of her with his cellular phone while she was naked, without her knowledge. The two had a “relationship,” according to the complaint.

A month later, “Simmons threatened to distribute these photographs to employees at the workplace,” and “told Anglin that he had already shown the photographs to many people including co-workers,” it states.

Anglin reported the threat and misconduct to Preco’s human relations director, and also contacted the Tazewell County State’s Attorney’s office to make a complaint against Simmons, the complaint says.

That office twice told her she “needed to verify that Simmons had shown the pictures to a third party in order to proceed criminally against him.”

She asked a co-worker if he had seen the photos, and also informed the human relations department about what she had been told to do, it states.

The next day, on Oct. 1, 2003, she was fired from her job. The complaint alleges that Anglin was fired “for reporting, complaining about and opposing conduct that she reasonably believed to be illegal,” thus violating her civil rights.

Her attorney, Athena Herman, with Benassi and Benassi PC of Peoria, said: “It’s a retaliation case. You have to be free from retaliation to make a complaint” of sexual harassment. A person should not have to worry about whether the claim itself will stand up in court, she added.

“I always advise (people) to make a complaint and let the system work. Here, the system not only did not solve her problem, it made the situation worse. In the end she was treated as if she had done something wrong,” Herman said.

“She followed the procedure. She went to the police, she tells her employer. The next day she’s fired.”

Simmons also was fired, Herman said.

Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stuart Umholtz said police investigated Anglin’s complaint but a court case never was opened against Simmons.

“We reviewed all the facts and determined we would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that the offense occurred, he said.

“This is not to say it’s OK for an individual to take a photo (of someone) in their home without their consent. This is a crime in Illinois. But there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the photos were taken without her consent,” he said.

Preco did not respond to a request for comment.