Confidential
Settlement – $200,000Judge
Court
Federal Circuit Court
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Mildred K. O'Linn
(Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP)
Facts
Plaintiff is a 39-year-old Hispanic woman who began working as a deputy for defendant county sheriff's department in June 1982. Plaintiff served the defendant sheriff's department in various positions, including custody officer, patrol officer, community affairs officer, detective and field support and she has received numerous commendations. Upon completion of her fifteenth year of service, she received a letter from defendant sheriff recognizing that her diligence and dedication to duty has contributed to making the sheriff's department an organization of which we can all be very proud. The plaintiff alleged that she has been the victim of a continuing violation for sex and race discrimination since her employment began. For example, in 1985, male deputies placed a dildo in her patrol car. In front of her commanders, male deputies often made fun of the way she dressed, commenting on the fit and shape of her uniform. On the eve of her first marriage to an African-American deputy, her male co-workers left her drawings of a half-ape, half-man with a long penis, placed bananas and plastic gorillas in her mailbox. One officer threw a plastic gorilla at her during a briefing. On Nov. 7, 1994, plaintiff was promoted to detective and assigned to Century. The harassment began even before she got there. During her interview for detective, the plaintiff claimed that she was asked by her would-be lieutenant if she was going to experience childcare and baby-sitting problems if she took the job. The plaintiff also claimed that she was warned that she should be careful because her new supervisor had announced that he did not want a female deputy for that position. By contrast to similarly situated male employees, plaintiff was not provided with any detective training and given a much greater case load than the other detectives. At the detectives bureau, the plaintiff claimed that she was subjected to threats, lewd and sexually offensive comments, racially abusive remarks and unjustified criticism of her performance. The plaintiff claimed the internal affairs investigation confirmed that her co-workers repeatedly denigrated the plaintiff with offensive, sexist comments about her intelligence and performance, made offensive racial remarks, and treated her like a maid. The harassment was done in front of plaintiff's sergeant and lieutenant, who often joked about it. In June 1995, after seven months of humiliation, the plaintiff was forced to take stress leave and filed a complaint of sexual harassment and discrimination with Internal Affairs. The department's policy of sexual harassment provides guidelines for investigating and resolving sexual harassment and retaliation complaints. The guidelines state that investigations into reports of sexual harassment will be completed in 90 days. The defendant department took nine months to investigate the plaintiff's complaint. In March 1996, prior to a review of the findings, a letter was sent to the plaintiff saying that "an investigation has established that your allegations . . . are founded. Please be assured that appropriate administrative action has been taken." The defendant sheriff's department however rescinded the discipline against the sergeant, lieutenant and primary involved deputy was suspended for one day without pay. As a result of the harassment, the plaintiff was on medical leave for one year, undergoing psychological counseling. She returned to work in August 1996 with the permanent restriction that her environment be harassment free. The hostility and retaliation began immediately. First, the plaintiff was assigned to a station but not given a desk. She was forced to sit on a box for months with nothing to do. *** FOR CONTINUATION OF FACTS
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $____________. The defendants made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $______________ .
Result
*** (CONTINUATION OF FACTS) A lieutenant who saw a deputy speaking to the plaintiff and said, "Don't speak to her. She is trouble." A month later, a crime victim refused to work with the plaintiff because she had been told that plaintiff had sued for sexual harassment and was not to be trusted. When the plaintiff reported the incident for her captain, the captain criticized her stating "What's the matter with you? Do you still want a pound of flesh?" Even more humiliating, the plaintiff was pulled off the security detail as a result. As a result of this continuing harassment and retaliation, the plaintiff was again forced to take stress leave from the department in April 1997. She reported these retaliatory incidents to Internal Affairs on Oct. 30, 1996. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendants based on sexual harassment, gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation theories of recovery.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately one year and one month after the case was filed. A mediation was held on June 5, 1998 before Viggo Boserup resulting in the reported settlement.
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