ICN, Chairman Settle 2nd Sexual Harassment Case
ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. and controversial Chairman Milan Panic have settled a high-profile lawsuit brought by a former employee who alleged Panic demanded sex from her and fathered her child, a company spokesman said Monday.
The settlement comes less than three years after Panic and the company settled another case in which a former female employee alleged she was the target of advances by the chief executive of the Costa Mesa-based drug maker. In both cases, the company and Panic said that they had done nothing wrong. In both cases, the settlement terms were not disclosed.
David Watt, the drug company’s general counsel, said the recent case, brought by a former secretary, Debra Levy, is “resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.” Panic, who is traveling in Europe, could not be reached for comment.
Many companies attempt to settle cases before they reach open court, both out of fear of bad publicity and of the possibility of being hit with a costly judgment, experts say. Lars Jentsch, managing editor of a Costa Mesa-based newsletter that tracks sexual harassment cases, notes that the legal fees alone average about $250,000 for a harassment case that goes to trial.
“Companies are willing to pay money to make these go away quickly,” he says.
Watt refused to say why ICN settled the Levy case. Birch Bayh, a company director and former U.S. senator, said ICN does not condone sexual harassment and that the board considered Levy’s charges “serious.” However, he added that the majority of the company’s directors do not believe Levy’s claims. “Frankly, most all of us thought they were without merit,” Bayh said.
Last year, Levy claimed in a suit filed in Orange County Superior Court that Panic began making unwanted advances when she became his secretary in 1986. That year, she said, Panic asked her to go on a business trip to Eastern cities that involved meeting with investment bankers and other potential investors.
While on the trip, her suit states, Panic again sought to have sex with her. When he repeated his requests and became more insistent, she said, she complied. After returning from the trip, she alleges, Panic continued to have sex with her, and she became pregnant, giving birth to a son in 1987.
Three years later, she filed a paternity action against Panic. That case has not been resolved, but Panic began making child support payments to her in the meantime, Levy claimed in the sexual harassment lawsuit.
In July 1992, Panic traveled to his native Yugoslavia, where he served as the country’s prime minister until the next March. After he returned to the United States, Levy claims, Panic began seeking sex with her again and she refused. She left ICN in October 1994.
Shortly after Levy filed the sexual harassment suit, ICN attorneys accused Levy of retaliating against the company. Before she resigned, the company had filed a suit against her accusing her of fraudulently using a company credit card to ring up more than $20,000 in purchases. The suit against Levy has also been settled, but no details were disclosed, court documents show.
In September 1994, Levy sought a court ruling that Panic is the father of her son and a formal order of support. When the court papers in that action were served, Levy said, Panic removed her from his office area, she was given no more meaningful assignments, and was fired in October.
Levy sought punitive and other damages and an injunction against ICN to take all reasonable steps, including terminating him, to prevent Panic from harassing female employees.
Watt would not comment on the terms of the settlement. In an interview last week, Watt said ICN has a “responsible” corporate policy for handling allegations of sexual, racial or age-related harassment of or discrimination against employees.
For about six years, he added, the company has run a training program for supervisors in the handling of such matters. Watt would not elaborate on any steps the company may have taken to investigate the sexual harassment claims against Panic.
