Chevron Settles Women’s Sexual Harassment Suit for $2.2 Million : Workplace: Another suit alleges discrimination. Company says it does not tolerate such practices.

Chevron Corp. on Tuesday agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit by four women who accused the company of retaliating against them after they complained of sexual harassment.

In the suit, the women claimed they were targets of sexual advances from colleagues at Chevron’s Information Technology Co. They also allegedly found pornographic messages on a company computer system, and one woman said she received an anonymous sadistic pornographic image through her company e-mail.

The women were also subject to sexual advances by their managers and co-workers, said Kathryn Dickson, a lawyer who represented the women.

When they complained, the company began monitoring their phone calls and e-mail, installed a surveillance camera outside the office of one woman, labeled the women as troublemakers and threatened the jobs of others who associated with them, according to the suit.

“Chevron has a long history and pattern of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination problems. These women had basically had enough,” Dickson said.

The four women are also plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit charging Chevron with discriminating against women in promotions, salary decisions and performance evaluations. That trial is scheduled to begin in October.

Under the settlement, Chevron also agreed to implement any court-ordered changes in its harassment policies, will allow court records to show that a formal public judgment has been entered against the company and will pay the attorney fees the women incurred.

Dickson said she believes that the $2.2 million is the largest sexual harassment lawsuit settlement in U.S. history. One woman will receive $1.3 million, another will get $500,000 and the other two will receive $200,000 each.

“We worked hard to resolve these complex and unusual cases,” Bill Houghton, president of Chevron’s CITC division, said in a statement. “We are pleased to put this behind us.”

Chevron Vice Chairman Jim Sullivan said the company does not tolerate harassment or discrimination.

“We’ve worked hard to be free of this behavior, and we will continue to do so,” Sullivan said in a statement.

Dickson said the women decided to settle the case in order to avoid a lengthy trial and possible appeals and also to make public the judgment against Chevron.

“It was going to be a hard trial for a lot of people. We feel like we’ve accomplished a tremendous amount,” she said.