City Settles Lawyer’s Sex Discrimination Suit for $75,000

One of four women lawyers in the Pasadena city attorney’s office suing the city for sexual discrimination has settled for $75,000 plus a pay raise, officials confirmed Friday.

The settlement with Assistant City Atty. Carolyn Y. Williams was approved by the Pasadena City Council on Monday and is much more than the $20,000 the city offered Williams in September. Williams attorney, Joe Hopkins, would not say how large a raise his client would receive but said it would be substantial. Top scale for a city attorney of Williams’ rank is about $97,000 annually.

A trial on claims of sexual discrimination by three other attorneys--Ann S. Higginbotham, Ann S. Rider and Julia S. Westin--is set for next month.

The suit alleges that former City Atty. Victor Kaleta discriminated by failing to include the women in promotions in 1992. Kaleta denied the allegations but resigned in August 1994 under fire. The council brought in interim City Atty. Cristina Talley to restore the office’s stature, but the lawsuit alleges that she continued the discrimination and laid off Westin for her complaint. Officials say attorneys’ fees have cost Pasadena more than $300,000. The city is still without a city attorney.