2 Officers Allege Sex Harassment : Charges: Two women in the Irvine Police Department have filed federal complaints saying they were discriminated against. The city denies any wrongdoing.

At least two female police officers are pursuing federal complaints against the city’s Police Department, alleging they were sexually harassed and discriminated against by their superiors.

The complaints, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in San Diego, contend that Officer Shari Lohman is being forced to take a disability retirement, while narcotics investigator Abby Taylor has been denied a bulletproof vest, although her male co-workers were issued the equipment.

Lohman’s attorney, Gregory G. Petersen, said Wednesday that two other female employees of the Police Department have filed EEOC complaints, contending they were subjected to lewd remarks and treated differently than male employees.

City officials say they have only been served with complaints by two women, Lohman and Taylor. The EEOC, however, has 10 days to notify employers of the allegations against them.

“Management has allowed discrimination to continue and refused to investigate these complaints,” Petersen said. “We tried to solve this informally, but the city said, ‘Go away. Leave us alone. We’re wonderful.’ ”

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. denied the allegations of sexual discrimination and said the city has never had a sexual discrimination complaint sustained against it. A custom bulletproof vest had to be ordered for Taylor because she is short, he said, and male officers in situations similar to Lohman’s have been terminated and given disability retirements.

“Neither I nor Police Chief Charles Brobeck will tolerate any sexual harassment, harassment in general, intimidation or retaliation against any employee in the city’s work force,” Brady said.

Lohman, an eight-year veteran of the department, alleges that she was fired unfairly and told to take a disability retirement about six months ago when she developed arthritis from a work-related back injury. Male officers with similar health problems have been allowed to keep their jobs, she says.

According to her EEOC action, Lohman’s termination was initiated after she complained verbally to a sergeant that she had been the victim of suggestive remarks from a male co-worker. The department, Petersen said, never investigated Lohman’s complaint although it had an obligation to do so.

Taylor, a narcotics investigator, contends that she has been waiting at least four months for a proper-fitting bulletproof vest that is used for drug raids. She says the old U.S. Army flak jacket provided to her is much too big. Male officers in her detail, she claims, have been provided adequate gear.

Petersen declined to discuss the Taylor case or the complaints he says have been filed by two other employees of the Police Department.

Lohman’s EEOC case has now gone before acting Administrative Law Judge Philip Schwab, a retired jurist who works for Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, a private mediation company. The first hearing to determine whether she should be terminated was held Tuesday. Another court date has been set for Dec. 8.

The city argues that Lohman’s back injury has precluded her from performing all the duties of a police officer, hence she should take a disability retirement. At least five other male officers facing similar injuries over the years have been treated the same way, said David C. Larsen, an attorney for the city.

Larsen contends that there is no written record or other proof that Lohman ever complained about sexual harassment to one of her superiors before her termination began.

The city has made some temporary arrangements to keep Lohman on light duty in the department’s fraud unit, Larsen said, but he added that the department cannot keep her in that capacity indefinitely.

Petersen alleges that Lohman’s health is good enough to fulfill her duties as a police officer. If not, he said, the city has an obligation to find her another position in the department.

He dismissed Larsen’s notion that the city cannot accommodate his client and cited the case of a male officer who had been kept on light duty for eight years after a work-related injury. He declined to name the officer.

Petersen also said that potential witnesses for the discrimination cases have been told by superiors that their police careers would be threatened if they testified on behalf of the women. Larsen denied the allegation, saying there is no evidence of anyone being intimidated.

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