NEWPORT BEACH : City Pays to Settle on Harassment Claim

The city and a police dispatcher who alleged that she suffered sexual harassment on the job this week reached a $20,000 settlement, the costliest for the city thus far.

In the settlement, which was finalized Monday, the city also agreed to pay for at least two years of counseling for Tina Vanderhorst, 35, in exchange for her promise not to file a harassment claim.

“The city of Newport Beach realized that there was a problem there” with sexual harassment in the Police Department, said Bryan Brown, Vanderhorst’s attorney.

“So Newport Beach offered her a settlement. . . . The city has been very responsive.”

Ten current or former women employees of the department have filed a lawsuit against former Police Chief Arb Campbell and Capt. Anthony Villa. City officials say that case is expected to go to trial in about two years.

Vanderhorst and five others who had not joined the lawsuit but who had claimed to have been sexually harassed were offered money in January to settle all their claims for damage and for workers’ compensation.

The city began considering settlements with the women after a city-hired attorney completed an investigation in December and concluded that “a trier of fact might find that conduct of a sexually harassing nature occurred.”

In addition to Vanderhorst, four women have accepted settlement offers ranging from $2,000 to $7,500. The city so far has paid out a total of $39,500. Negotiations for a settlement with the sixth woman are pending, said City Manager Kevin J. Murphy.

Brown said he would not discuss the specific allegations Vanderhorst had leveled against the department. “She is a very nice person and very sensitive,” he said. “It would be counterproductive for anyone to read what specifically happened to her.”

Vanderhorst still works for the department.