San Diego

A former employee of Sam Spital, the personal-injury attorney who appears frequently in television commercials, has filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against him.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Superior Court, states that Connie Burke, 28, was fired July 23 after working 12 days as Spital’s public affairs coordinator because she refused to “let Sam do it,” a reference to his highly publicized television motto.

“I’m sorry, but we cannot comment on the case at this time,” said William Sailer, an attorney representing Burke. “It is just such a sensitive issue that at this point we don’t want to say anything.”

Spital was unavailable for comment Friday.

Burke is seeking $1 million in punitive damages, $100,000 in future salary losses, $15,000 in lost wages and $50,000 for emotional trauma.

Sailer declined to say which of Spital’s five branches Burke worked at. Spital works out of his downtown San Diego office. Sailer said that, if the case winds up in court, it probably will be within the next year.

The suit says Burke originally filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in November. However, a department spokesman said there is no record of a complaint filed by either Burke or her attorneys.

“Spital has a habit, policy and practice of harassing and discriminating against female employees,” the suit claims. “This practice generally consists of Spital hiring young, attractive females (and) making repeated physical advances and suggestive comments.”

According to the suit, Spital, a former California deputy attorney general, will harass or fire a female employee who resists his advances or who “no longer attracts Spital as an actual or potential playmate.”

Burke claims Spital told her he fired her because she failed to work hard enough. However, she says in her suit that she worked more than 50 hours the first week and 45 hours the next.