Holden Denies Sex Harassment, Admits to Getting Night Massage : Courts: He says his ex-receptionist’s visit was to treat a terrible headache. Judge rules that councilman’s apartment can be considered an extension of workplace.

Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden took the witness stand in civil court Monday and testified that he never sexually harassed a receptionist who is suing him, nor anyone else, but he acknowledged that the former staffer once visited his apartment after midnight to give him a massage.

Superior Court Judge Raymond D. Mireles ruled Monday that Holden’s Marina del Rey apartment--where he stayed most nights for about a year and a half--should be considered part of the workplace for purposes of the lawsuit brought by Marlee M. Beyda, a receptionist in Holden’s district office from April, 1991, until September, 1992.

Beyda is one of three former employees to accuse Holden of inappropriate touching, offensive comments and the creation of a hostile and discriminatory work environment. Beyda’s case against the city, the councilman and several top staffers is the first to land in a courtroom--and after a week of pretrial skirmishing, the trial officially got under way Monday.

“In your Marina del Rey apartment, did you ever physically touch her in a sexual way?” Beyda’s attorney, Dan Stormer, asked the 66-year-old lawmaker, who spent two hours on the witness stand Monday afternoon.

“Not in a sexual way,” Holden replied, adding that he may have shaken Beyda’s hand or touched her shoulder.

“Did you ever say anything to her that was sexual?” Stormer asked. “I did not,” came the response.

“Did you ever do anything to sexually harass her?” Stormer continued. “No,” Holden said.

“Did you ever sexually harass anybody?” asked the lawyer. “No, sir,” the councilman replied.

Beyda, 30, contends in her lawsuit that Holden touched her stomach, legs, buttocks and waist and forced her to touch his chest and penis, and to kiss him. She says he routinely called her at home in the evening, ordered her to his apartment more than 50 times and offered to advance her career in exchange for sex.

But Holden testified Monday that he made no such overtures, and in fact rebuffed Beyda’s romantic advances. “I got the impression that she liked me,” Holden said, noting that Beyda had given him one of her paintings for Christmas, sent him a memo asking whether she could do anything for him and taped a handwritten note signed “love” to the back of his chair. “I believed she liked me and had a crush on me.”

Holden said Beyda visited his apartment “about four times,” but he only testified specifically about one incident, in which he came home from work with a terrible headache and asked Beyda--who no longer worked for him--to help him contact her former roommate, who was a masseuse.

“I never had a headache like that before. I was in pretty bad shape and I would try anything,” Holden said. When Beyda offered to do the massage herself, he agreed. “I made the assumption that since she lived with this person, maybe she learned some of the skills. She put hot compresses on my neck. . . . She worked very, very hard. She really did.”

Earlier Monday, Beyda’s mother testified that her daughter’s demeanor changed from happy and bubbly, to subdued and quiet while she worked for Holden. Marilyn James said her daughter also developed severe stomachaches during that time.

Barbara Gutek, a psychologist and expert on sexual harassment, also testified Monday, citing surveys that show few women report sexual harassment, particularly in a “family-type, friendly” office atmosphere, such as Holden’s, where the boss is the alleged harasser.

A second woman whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Holden is scheduled for trial in January in Orange County will probably take the stand today once the councilman finishes testifying. Attorneys said Monday each side plans to call about a dozen witnesses and that they expect the trial to last at least two weeks.

Another former employee, who now lives in Washington, D.C., testified last week that Holden made offensive comments about her anatomy and touched her inappropriately in the office.

Outside court, Holden and his attorney declined to comment directly on the lawsuit, or on Mireles’ ruling that the apartment could be included as part of the workplace--a victory for Beyda.

“Sometimes, even elected officials have to listen, and that’s what I’m doing,” said Holden about his uncharacteristic silence. “This is life. As long as you’re alive and well, and God’s on your side, there are no setbacks.”