$17,500 Awarded to Woman in Harassment Case : Courts: A jury finds Buena Park police negligent but refuses to grant plaintiff more money.

A former Buena Park Police Department employee was awarded $17,500 by a Superior Court jury Monday in a sexual harassment case she brought against the city, Police Chief Richard Tefank and other department officials.

In making its decision, the jury of five women and seven men said they believed that the city was negligent because no action was taken when Victoria A. Chaney of Garden Grove complained of sexual harassment during her seven years on the force. But jurors said they did not believe that Chaney had presented a strong enough case to warrant the $250,000 in damages requested by her attorney.

Jurors also found that the city and the other defendants did not, as Chaney had charged, intentionally inflict emotional distress and did not wrongly fire her.

In her complaint, Chaney, 40, also named as defendants Capt. Charles Self, Sgt. Gerry Smock and retired city psychologist Thomas Abbot. Chaney alleged that the department discriminated against her and then retaliated by firing her when she aired her complaints.

Attorney Carrie MacMillin, who represented Chaney, said her client did not appear for the verdict Monday, but her husband, Buena Park Police Sgt. Robert R. Chaney Jr., was present and left the courtroom immediately after the verdict was read.

Tefank said he was “relieved” by the jury’s decision.

“I’m not going to be naive and think that nothing--dirty words said or jokes made--would ever happen,” the chief said. “But, we will do our best to make sure that officers are more sensitive to others in the department.”

Outside the courtroom, attorneys for both sides claimed victory for their respective clients.

City Atty. Marsha Slough, who represented the city and the Police Department, said she had hoped that the jury would not award damages in the case, but nonetheless called the verdict a “major, major victory for the city.”

“It’s a reasonable figure, and we’re very pleased with the outcome,” Slough said, adding that she doesn’t think that the city will appeal the verdict.

MacMillin said that while “disappointed with the figure” awarded by jurors, she was “heartened that the city was held responsible.”

Chaney, a former investigative aide to a detective, contended that from the time she joined the department in October, 1983, she was the subject of constant harassment by her supervisors. During her first year with the department, Chaney testified, she once brought a supervisor a cup of coffee, who then asked if she performed sexual services.

Chaney also testified that male officers often called women “broads, bimbos and bims” and made other derogatory comments about women. She also complained about the presence of “girlie magazines and photos” in the department.

Chaney testified that the alleged harassment initially went unreported because she feared retaliation from her superiors. She said she told no one, not even her husband, until 1989, when she reported the allegations to an investigator.

Chaney was fired in October, 1990, while on a medical-stress leave. She alleged that Tefank fired her because she had lodged her complaints with the investigator.

Tefank, however, testified that Chaney only worked just more than a week from March to October, 1990. She was fired when she did not return from her two-month leave, the chief said.

During the two-week trial, Slough acknowledged that off-color jokes and comments were probably directed to Chaney while she was working. However, the attorney argued, a few lewd comments over a period of seven years did not constitute a sexual harassment case.

Though saying she did not want to “trivialize” allegations of sexual harassment, Slough said a “reasonable woman” would not have perceived the various complaints as sexual harassment.

Chaney is the second woman to file a lawsuit against the Buena Park Police Department, alleging sexual harassment. In a pending lawsuit, former officer Sandra Jean McClaren has alleged that male officers frequently made sexual comments to her, leading to her resignation in 1989. That trial is scheduled to start this month, said MacMillin, who is also serving as McClaren’s attorney.