SANTA ANA : 2 Ex-Employees Win Suit Against Register

A Superior Court jury awarded $270,000 Monday to two women who contended they were wrongfully fired from their jobs as graphic artists for The Orange County Register because of false perceptions about their sexual orientation.

Patt Buchanan and Claudia Piras alleged in their suit that Pinkerton Inc. guards at the Register wrote reports and spread rumors that they had seen the two women engaged in intimate acts inside a car in the paper’s parking lot, their attorney, Tom Chun, said.

They also alleged that they were fired May 11, 1992, without adequate review, even though they had received good performance reviews and merit raises.

After about eight hours of deliberations, the jury found that Pinkerton Inc. had defamed the two women and that the Register had discriminated against them on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation, Chun said. The jury also found that terms of their employment had been violated, Chun said.

Register Publisher R. David Threshie said in a statement that he was “dumbfounded” by the verdict and that their sexual orientation had “absolutely nothing to do with the firing.”

The newspaper indicated it was considering an appeal.

Harry J. Cohen, an attorney for Pinkerton, declined comment except to say the company is also considering an appeal.

Chun said Buchanan, 39, is married and Piras, 32, has been living with her boyfriend for a number of years.

Pinkerton was ordered to pay $100,000 of the total award, while Freedom Newspapers Inc., the parent company of the Register, was ordered to pay the remaining $170,000, Chun said.