Women Win $3.1 Million in Bias Suit

Two Long Beach policewomen who sued the city and Police Chief Lawrence Binkley for sexual harassment were awarded $3.1 million Thursday by a federal court jury.

Lindsey Allison and Melissa Clerkin testified that they were subjected to sexual harassment and that supervisors did little or nothing to stop it. Allison was awarded $1.4 million, Clerkin $1.7 million.

Their victory came as a sharp blow to the Police Department and the financially strapped city. Assistant City Manager John Shirey said officials were stunned by the size of the award, adding: “It’s almost a dead certainty we’re going to recommend appeal.”

Allison, 33, said she encountered hostility immediately upon joining what until then had been the all-male canine unit. Allison testified that some fellow officers partially disrobed in front of her and urinated in public. She said she was also exposed to graphic sexual language and ridicule.

Clerkin, 35, said she was harassed by her supervisor after their relationship of several years ended in 1986. Clerkin said Sgt. George Hiscox threatened her, saying he would make trouble for her unless she left the department.

When the women complained, their concerns were met with remarks such as “boys will be boys,” their attorney, Barbara Hadsell, told the jury.

Tom Reeves, an attorney for the city, argued that the two women failed to file timely complaints, but once they did, administrators acted. In some cases, administrators found that the charges were unsubstantiated. In other complaints, the police chief found against the male officers. In Clerkin’s case, Hiscox received a letter of reprimand.

Reeves argued that neither woman was discriminated against because of her sex.

Allison has been on a stress-related leave since September, 1988, and Clerkin, who also left on a stress leave in 1988, has received a disability retirement.