California IN BRIEF : RICHMOND : $575,000 Awarded to Ex-City Worker

A former Richmond city employee, who claimed that she was discriminated against because she is a white woman over 40, has been awarded $575,000 in damages by a jury. In granting the award Friday, the Contra Costa County Superior Court jury did not find that Janna Coverston, 52, had been intentionally discriminated against because of age, sex or race. But the jury found that Coverston, who had worked for the city for 29 years, was injured by statements made by Richmond City Manager Lawrence Moore. Coverston, who left her job as associate administrative analyst in the city manager’s office in May, 1988, claimed that Moore, a 46-year-old black man who became city manager in May, 1987, deliberately intimidated and harassed her until she was forced to leave.