4 Women Fear Retaliation Over Newport Suit

Four current and former female Newport Beach Police Department employees broke their silence Sunday, telling The Times they are “petrified” of retaliation since they filed a lawsuit accusing a police captain of sexual harassment and their police chief of “condoning” it.

In interviews attended by their attorney at his Seal Beach office, the women said they believe the Newport Beach Police Department to be an intolerably sexist place to work and reiterated charges in their lawsuit calling the department “a hotbed of sexual offensive conduct at the top levels of the command structure.”

“It’s been extremely stressful and very retaliatory,” said Officer Cheryl Vlacilek, who has worked her regular patrol shifts since the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, rocked the police station. “At times, it’s very unbearable to work there, and with the powers that be, I worry about what could happen.”

The lawsuit, which charges discrimination in employment based on sex, names the city of Newport Beach, Capt. Anthony Villa and Police Chief Arb Campbell as defendants. It seeks damages in excess of $200,000 for each woman.

The four women stressed Sunday that most of their male co-workers do not engage in sexual harassment and that their suit only targets high-ranking officers.

The civil suit was brought by Officer Vlacilek, 28, records supervisor Mary Jane (Janie) Ruetz, 43, communications supervisor Margaret (Margie) McInnis, 39, and fired police officer Rochell Maier, 31.

Maier attended the interview in support of the three others, but she declined to talk because she felt it inappropriate--both as a captain and commander of her Army Reserve helicopter company and because she is awaiting an Oct. 5 civil service board hearing to appeal her firing.

All but McInnis contend in their lawsuit that they were disciplined and fired on contrived charges after rejecting Villa’s sexual advances, which they said included touching breasts and making sexually suggestive remarks that included a graphic description by Villa of a pornographic movie he had seen. They alleged that Chief Campbell did nothing to stop it.

Vlacilek and Ruetz were reinstated by the Newport Beach Civil Service Commission. Maier is seeking reinstatement next month. Ruetz is on disability leave due to what she contends is stress from enduring the sexual harassment.

In their lawsuit, the women say they were told to socialize with male officers off duty, especially commanding officers, and to wear short skirts and clothing “desirable” by the men.

Campbell and Villa could not be reached for comment Sunday, but their lawyer, Bruce Praet, has broadly denied the charges and cast the four women suing as disgruntled employees.

The lawsuit has rocked the coastal resort town of 70,000, and prompted City Manager Kevin J. Murphy to recirculate a copy of the city’s law banning sexual harassment. It was announced last week that Villa is being transferred from patrol captain to captain of administration, but police spokesman Sgt. Andy Gonis said the transfer, effective Nov. 1, is part of a “routine rotation” every three or so years of all four captains.

On Sunday, the women said they did not want to elaborate on the allegations in their lawsuit, which contends that “several female employees have left the Newport Beach Police Department as a direct result of sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and the extraordinarily sexually hostile and offensive environment.”

Other employees have contacted their attorney in support of their claims, including four other current and former female employees who contend that they also have been sexually harassed. The women said Sunday that they were not surprised.

“No way,” Vlacilek said, while the others shook their heads. “Not at all surprised.”

The four women allege that sexual harassment commenced immediately after they began working for the 250-employee Newport Beach Police Department and continued even after they were fired and, in two cases, reinstated. There are 76 women in the department, seven of them sworn officers.

On Sunday, interviews were brief and the scope limited by the women’s attorney, Steven R. Pingel. He would only let them briefly discuss their emotions about the alleged sexual harassment and the fallout since the 26-page lawsuit was filed.

“It’s been almost unbearable as far as fear and pressure and retaliatory treatment,” Ruetz said Sunday.

“It’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of fear,” said McInnis, her arm in a sling after surgery for a tendon injury unrelated to the lawsuit. “I’m absolutely petrified. I personally think the (harassment) has been there all along. . . . Absolutely, as God is my witness, the lawsuit is all true.”