3rd Former Executive Files Suit Against Developer : Courts: Baldwin Builders of Newport Beach deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of sexual harassment as alleged.

James and Alfred Baldwin, whose Orange County company has constructed more than 15,000 homes in Southern California since the 1950s, have been accused by a third former executive of wrongful termination, fraud and breach of contract.

The suit, which seeks up to $5 million in actual and punitive damages, was filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court by Carole J. Greenwald of San Diego. Greenwald, who last summer joined Westbay Capital in San Diego, which is owned by the Baldwin brothers, in the suit also has accused her former immediate supervisor with sexual harassment.

In a written statement, Baldwin Builders denied that the company committed any wrongdoing and denied knowledge of any sexual harassment against Greenwald, who was terminated April 26.

The Greenwald suit charges that, after six months with Westbay Capital, she was promised a 50% partnership interest in Westbay and any mortgage bank that might be acquired by Baldwin. Greenwald said she was told she would receive annual profit distributions of at least 7% and was personally assured by James Baldwin, chairman of Baldwin Builders, that she was a “partner” and a “vice president,” the suit said.

Greenwald was a mortgage banker hired away from a Westbay competitor to bring in new business, and was promised a $120,000 annual salary along with an auto allowance, according to the suit. She agreed to waive commissions on the mortgages she arranged in exchange for her promised partnership interest.

Greenwald’s suit states that in February she received a new supervisor, Benton White, who required her to attend a conference in Chicago with him early last month, where he allegedly had too much to drink and tried to pressure Greenwald to have “a personal sexual relationship with him.”

After the trip, White began “to harass, defame and libel” Greenwald, according to the suit, because she refused his advances and because he feared that she would tell others about his drunken claims to have “trafficked in cocaine during years past to support himself.”

White terminated Greenwald’s partnership agreement and offered her a job demotion on April 2, telling her that if she did not accept the demotion she would be terminated, the suit states. Greenwald did not accept the demotion.

Ron Therrien, chief financial officer for Baldwin Builders, said the company would never condone sexual harassment.

“The company has a strict written policy regarding sexual harassment,” said Therrien. “At no time did the plaintiff file a complaint under those procedures. . . . When the company indirectly heard about a potential problem, the company hired an outside attorney to investigate. The plaintiff refused to cooperate or discuss the matter.”

When contacted in San Diego Tuesday, White refused to comment on the lawsuit.

“There’s no question that the Baldwin brothers knew what was going on. This man reports directly to them,” said Jeffrey Benice, an attorney representing Greenwald. “Here is a successful woman who has made a lot of money, who has suffered. She has seen a reputation she built up for a number of years in the mortgage banking industry nearly destroyed.”

Joe Dalyea, who headed Westbay’s operations in Orange County until last January, said Greenwald was very highly recommended by her former employer.

“When (Greenwald) worked for me, her performance was excellent and she did a terrific job of increasing the number of loans,” said Dalyea, who now lives in Seattle. “When I was there, I never had any complaints about her performance. I have nothing but good things to say about her.”

Another breach of contract suit, seeking $35 million in damages against Baldwin Builders, was filed by Robert B. Burns, formerly a corporate vice president and head of Baldwin’s Los Angeles-Ventura division.

That lawsuit, filed Jan. 25 in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges fraud and breach of contract by the company and its owners, James and Alfred Baldwin. The suit states that the Baldwins made verbal assurances that he was a 10% partner in all company projects within his division but that they unilaterally voided the agreements in January.

Burns and former Orange County division President Geoff Fearns are two of three division presidents who have left the company since November.

The third, San Diego division President Greg Smith, was terminated, according to Burns’ suit. The suit alleges that the Baldwins attempted to engage Fearns and Smith in a scheme to avoid federal income tax payments in 1993, and intentionally failed to disclose Burns’ partnership agreement to investors when the company sold $155 million in bonds last year.

If Burns’ case in Los Angeles Superior Court is successful, Baldwin’s failure to disclose that Burns had the rights to 10% of divisional profits could be grounds for additional suits against the company by bondholders.

Fearns, who resigned from the company in November, filed an arbitration action against Baldwin in February.

That action accuses the company’s owners of breach of contract, forced resignation and fraud. Fearns is seeking mediation through Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, a statewide organization based in Orange, because of a provision in his former contract requiring that certain disputes be arbitrated.