Cities Can Ill Afford Sexual Harassment : * More Than $600,000 in Settlements Proves Workplace Behavior Must Be Addressed

No worker should have to put up with the sexual harassment Marion L. Roubanis said she suffered as a Laguna Beach city worker--male co-workers urging her to wear tight clothes, discuss her sex life and look at nude magazine pictures.

This month the City Council approved a $40,000 payment to Roubanis to make up for the stress and hostile work environment that she said forced her to quit her job. That puts the payout from five cities in Orange County to well over $600,000 in just the past two years to settle claims of sexual harassment. At a time of shrinking budgets and layoffs of city workers, the cities cannot afford these bills. And unlike private firms, when a city loses a lawsuit or pays a settlement, all the taxpayers share in the cost.

Roubanis was the only woman working in a city division that handled such chores as fueling and washing buses and inspecting city police cars. She worked there for nearly three years, until February, 1992. She said that her co-workers eventually stopped talking to her altogether and she felt compelled to leave the job.

Laguna Beach earlier paid $10,000 to settle a workers’ compensation complaint that Roubanis lodged against the city. The city attorney asserted that Laguna Beach had “a good chance” of winning the trial over Roubanis’ lawsuit, but settled, saying it would be cheaper. While that may be true, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank acknowledged to the council that some employees had conducted themselves in a “less than stellar manner on several occasions.” Once should have been one time too many. Although Frank said supervisors responded to Roubanis’ complaints “in a reasonable manner,” they should have made sure Roubanis’ co-workers did not repeat the harassment.

Buena Park lost two sexual harassment lawsuits and paid out more than $200,000 in 1992. Newport Beach paid $175,000 to settle lawsuits last year, and Garden Grove paid a $180,000 settlement. Two months ago Cypress paid $60,000 to settle a lawsuit by a female police officer.

The cases are instructive for all cities, which must promulgate rules of conduct and insist on proper workplace behavior. Last November the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for employees to prove sexual harassment on the job. That opened the door to more jury awards or settlements, which cities cannot afford. The cost of failing to give workers the labor environment they deserve is getting higher.