Newport Leaders Stunned by Sex Harassment Suit

Municipal leaders said Thursday they were stunned and dismayed by a sexual harassment lawsuit that has embroiled the upper echelons of the Police Department, including Police Chief Arb Campbell.

“I read about it in the paper. It was a big surprise to me. This is the first time I have heard about this,” said Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer. “What can I say? It’s just one of an unfortunate chain of (city problems). Otherwise it has been a quiet 12 years for me on the council.”

The lawsuit described the police command structure as “a hotbed of sexually offensive conduct” and was filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court.

Meanwhile, legal representatives for the women involved said they fielded dozens of phone calls from current and former Newport Beach police employees who promised to corroborate their co-workers’ accusations.

City Manager Kevin J. Murphy issued a reminder to municipal employees on the city’s anti-discrimination policy passed in 1987.

“I really think it’s about time that somebody did something about the situation that’s been going on for many, many years,” said Rick Thomson, a Newport Beach policeman on stress disability who is suing the city. “I can’t really say too much more at this time because my wife still works at the Police Department. But I have no doubt she would face disciplinary action or termination if I said anything.”

One of the officers who sued was back on the job, even though she told one of her legal advisers that she feared retaliation.

Except for issuing broad denials of the allegations, top-ranking officers of the Newport Beach Police Department have declined to comment on the lawsuit. But City Council members said the case represents the first time that serious sexual harassment charges have been leveled against members of the Police Department.

Until now, employee-related grievances have been more mundane, council members said, and no one has presented them with any complaints about working conditions at the police station.

The lawsuit charges that four current and former female employees of the Police Department were sexually harassed both on and off the job by a captain, and that Chief Campbell “condoned” the behavior.

Capt. Anthony Villa touched breasts, made sexual overtures and suggestive remarks that included graphic descriptions “of a pornographic movie he had seen,” the lawsuit alleges.

All four women contend that they were told to socialize off-duty at bars with male officers, especially commanding officers, and “to wear short skirts” to show off their legs and other clothing deemed “desirable” by the men.

“Not only are females treated differently from male employees in many important respects,” the lawsuit states, “but some female employees who are intimately involved with high-ranking officers receive favored treatment in contrast to other female employees who refuse to ‘go along to get along.’ ”

The case states that several female employees have left the Newport Beach Police Department because of sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and an “extraordinarily sexually hostile and offensive environment.”

The suit was brought by Records Supervisor Mary Jane Ruetz, 43, Communications Supervisor Margaret McInnis, 39, and police Officers Rochell Maier, 31, and Cheryl Vlasilek, 28. They are seeking damages in excess of $200,000 each on charges of discrimination in employment based on sex.

Ruetz and Vlasilek contend that they were fired on trumped-up charges, unrelated to sexual harassment, after spurning Capt. Villa’s advances and formally complaining to superiors of sexual harassment. But the city’s Civil Service Commission reinstated both. Maier was similarly fired, the lawsuit states, and will seek her job back at an Oct. 5 hearing before the commission.

“What a nasty business,” said Fire Chief Timothy D. Riley. “I hate the thought of (sexual harassment) occurring. If it’s true, it’s unfortunate for the victims; if not, it’s unfortunate for Campbell and Capt. Anthony Villa. I’m saddened that this would happen. It’s nothing I would want anybody to go through, from either end.”

About two weeks before the lawsuit was filed, two of the women involved asked City Manager Murphy to have someone outside the Police Department investigate the allegations of sexual harassment. Murphy then hired the law firm, Burke, Williams & Sorensen to handle the investigation.

Murphy said the city must now decide whether to drop the inquiry because of the lawsuit. Murphy said it might duplicate any investigation the city would have to undertake in its defense.

City officials said the investigation has not begun in earnest. Attorney Harold A. Bridges of the Los Angeles law firm said he has not been able to arrange interviews with the women.

“I’m surprised that they would file a lawsuit because we had started an . . . investigation with an outside attorney,” said Mayor Phil Sansone. “I would have much preferred it had been settled administratively.”

Representatives of the women said Thursday that the city only began an outside investigation after their clients demanded it. The women nonetheless decided to sue.

“They indicated that they had no confidence in the city’s action,” said Beno Hernandez of Law Enforcement Representation Associates. “This was based on the fact that Mr. Bridges had defended the city of Alhambra when Mr. Murphy was the city manager, in a sexual harassment case. They feared that this would again be covered up.”

Law Enforcement Representation Associates is a private firm that represents police officers in employment disputes and disciplinary hearings. It helped prepare the lawsuit for Steven Pingel, the attorney for the women.

Hernandez, a former Los Angeles police officer who helps run the agency, said that one of the officers who sued, Vlasilek, went to work Thursday, but was so fearful that she called Hernandez from a pay phone instead of calling from the police station.

“She’s the only one back at work,” Hernandez said. “She called us and she’s fearful. . . . We said nothing could happen to her. We told her, ‘You have to go to work.’ She was fearful of retaliation.”

Law Enforcement Representation estimated that about two dozen people called the firm Thursday with information related to alleged sexual harassment at the Newport Beach Police Department. A representative said meetings were arranged Thursday with two former female employees of the force.

“All the callers are supportive of the women who filed the suit and applaud their courage, said John W. Lewis, a lawyer for Law Enforcement Representation. “They are coming forward and providing information that will substantiate all of the claims in addition to new information.”

Lewis declined to elaborate on the information provided.

“I’m not shocked or surprised that this has happened,” said Councilman John Hedges. “People will file a lawsuit at a drop of a hat . . . a roll of the dice . . . whether allegations are founded or not.”

City officials said discrimination complaints and the numbers of officers either resigning or retiring have not been extraordinary.

Newport Beach Personnel Director Duane K. Munson said that about 12% of the Police Department’s employees leave the force every year, a turnover rate not much different than other law enforcement agencies. Losses of 16% or more employees per year would be excessive, he said.

The city studied the Police Department turnover rate for three years. According to the research, the most common reasons for departures were retirements and better career opportunities.

Although he did not have specific numbers readily available, Munson said he did not see anything in the study indicating that female employees at the department were leaving in any greater proportion than male employees.

The police force has about 250 employees, of which 78 are women. Of the total, about 150 are sworn officers. Seven are women.

Munson said the city has made some special efforts to recruit women for the Police Department, and females have been well represented in the application process for becoming an officer.

“I was surprised by the allegations,” said Al Graham, a Santa Ana attorney who serves on the Newport Beach Civil Service Commission, which reinstated Ruetz and Vlasilek. “I had no hint that there were sexual harassment issues in these cases.”

Graham, who has served on the Civil Service Commission for seven years, said there have been no sexual harassment cases brought before the commission during his tenure that involved female employees from the Newport Beach Police Department.

Correspondent Mimi Ko contributed to this story.