Wilson Seeks New Bill on Sexual Harassment

Responding to criticism of his veto of a sexual harassment bill, Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday invited the Senate author of the measure and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission to work with him “in crafting a compromise that does not place an undue burden on businesses.”

Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), author of the rejected legislation, said she “would be happy to sit down and work out a solution to a problem that I think is at the forefront of public concern today.”

But Bergeson disagreed with the governor’s view that her bill would have placed an undue burden on businesses and said “it offered an alternative to costly litigation.”

The Orange County lawmaker added that she had not heard from Wilson about a possible time and meeting place to discuss the problem.

The bill would have authorized the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission to order damages up to $200,000 for employees who could show that they were subjected to sexual or other forms of harassment while on the job.

The governor’s veto of the Bergeson bill late Monday led to the resignation of Milan D. Smith, the Republican vice chairman of the commission, who said it “effectively kills California’s civil rights commission.”

In his veto message, the governor asked for the earliest possible reexamination of the sexual harassment problem “so we can provide an answer fair both to genuinely aggrieved employees and to innocent employers, upon whom our economy depends.”

Stung by criticism of the veto, the governor’s office on Wednesday issued a “fact sheet” emphasizing that Wilson was inviting Bergeson and the commission “to work with the Administration in crafting a compromise.”

Wilson vetoed the legislation while the nation’s attention was riveted on the issue of sexual harassment in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.