4 Who Alleged Harassment in Newport Settle : Litigation: Women who claim they were sexually harassed while employed by Police Department accept cash payouts, but 10 others who are suing reject offer.

Four female Police Department employees who said they were sexually harassed on the job have accepted cash settlements, ranging from $2,000 to $7,500, in exchange for their promise not to take legal action, city officials announced Wednesday.

Two more women, including a dispatcher who was offered $20,000, are still negotiating settlements.

“We investigated, and made a determination that we think they were harassed, and acted accordingly,” Mayor Clarence J. Turner said of the settlements, which were based on information the women provided to a city investigator looking into a sexual harassment suit filed last fall. “We said in the past we were going to accept responsibility if we found it. We feel we have responsibility.”

Meanwhile, the 10 women who are suing fired Police Chief Arb Campbell, Capt. Anthony Villa and the city in connection with rape and sexual harassment allegations on Wednesday rejected a settlement the city offered Jan. 15. Sources said the settlement was between $300,000 and $500,000 for all 10 women, with individual offers ranging from under $20,000 to about $100,000.

“It is too low,” Steven Pingel, the women’s attorney, said of the city’s offer, declining to disclose any specifics. “It is not a fair offer.”

Margaret McInnis, 39, one of the four original plaintiffs in the suit filed Sept. 24 in Orange County Superior Court, called the offer “ridiculous” and “ludicrous.”

“For the amount of suffering and the amount of problems, it was not reasonable,” said McInnis, a communications supervisor who has worked in Newport Beach since 1989 but has been on medical leave since August. “We’re looking at putting lives back together here. I’ve got a 22-year career (in law enforcement) that I did not put on the line for something frivolous. This is darn serious. They’re trying to trivialize it.”

City Manager Kevin J. Murphy said that last fall, when there were seven plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the women asked for a total of $5.5 million to settle out of court. While that amount was immediately rejected, the City Council considered a total settlement of as much as $1.7 million, sources close to the case said.

Councilman Phil Sansone, who was mayor at the time, said $1.7 million was a figure that was discussed but never finalized in the form of an offer.

“I’ve seen it up on the board,” Sansone said, explaining that when City Atty. Robert Burnham makes presentations to the council, he often jots figures on a chalkboard. “But I don’t remember the council ever seriously considering any figure. At that particular time, we didn’t have enough information to determine whether we had a case or we didn’t have a case.”

Council members would not say why the amounts currently on the table are so much lower than those considered last fall, and would not confirm any specifics about the settlement.

“We’re not trying to give away the store,” Turner said. “So if they want to go to the mat, we’ll have to go to the mat, I suppose.”

Council members decided to offer cash to women who were not part of the lawsuit because they feared further litigation, and higher costs, if more employees went to court. If the other two offers are accepted, the self-insured city will have spent $40,000 to $50,000 of its reserves on the out-of-court settlements.

Legal fees connected to the harassment suit, including the investigation, which included about 175 interviews with police employees, have already cost the city about $200,000.

The amounts offered were based on judge and jury awards in sexual harassment cases in which plaintiffs had experiences similar to those the Newport Beach employees described in the city’s internal investigation. However, city officials refused to describe the harassment the women had suffered.

Three community services officers, who work at the Police Department’s front desk, in the records division or on parking control have accepted offers. A woman who was hired in April, 1992, received $7,500; a woman who has been with the department since 1989 got $5,000; and a women who has worked in the city eight years was paid $2,000. The fourth award, $5,000, went to a senior dispatcher.

“We have obviously confirmed that some of the types of sexually harassing behavior impacted these women in a negative way,” Murphy said. “They’ve suffered some emotional distress and ought to be compensated. We are trying to put this behind us, and these are lingering problems.”