Sheriff Seeks Expert to Fight Harassment

As Los Angeles County lawyers recommended yet another hefty settlement Monday in a sexual harassment case against the Sheriff’s Department, department officials said they plan to hire a consultant to help them address a barrage of disturbing gender equality issues within the rank-and-file.

Amid reports of widespread sexism in the massive law enforcement agency, sheriff’s officials are seeking county approval to bring in a retired female lieutenant to address sexual harassment and other gender-related problems, sources say.

Undersheriff Paul Myron said he and Sheriff Lee Baca “are convinced that we have to pull all the stops to get this problem on the way to solution.” “Anymore than the Balkans, I’m not sure this will ever totally be solved. But I think we can make significant improvements.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Claims Board on Monday recommended spending $275,000 to settle a claim by a former sheriff’s deputy who alleges that she was sexually harassed on the job. The Board of Supervisors--which must approve all taxpayer-funded settlements--is set to consider the claims board’s recommendation next month.

The complaint was filed by former Deputy Jamila Bayati, who took disability retirement from the Sheriff’s Department in 1995. Bayati contended that her supervisor tolerated a hostile workplace and even allowed deputies to watch a raunchy video at a colleague’s workstation.

She also alleged that her supervisor’s office was decorated with a porn fold-out with his face pasted on it at crotch level. One deputy kept asking Bayati for dates, she said, and when she declined turned her colleagues against her.

“We believe that a jury is likely to find that Jamila Bayati was subjected to discrimination,” Assistant County Counsel Louis V. Aguilar wrote to the claims board. He noted that if the case went to trial, a jury could assess damages in excess of $750,000.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors demanded more information on the department’s handling of harassment cases after The Times reported that Baca’s proposal to increase the number of female deputies assigned to patrol unleashed a wave of hostility--via e-mail--against female officers.

Supervisors Gloria Molina and Yvonne Brathwait Burke have called for an investigation into sexism in the department, which has paid out more than $2.6 million to settle gender-related claims and lawsuits since mid-1995.

Last year, the Sheriff’s Department paid $661,000 to settle such suits, which amounted to 40% of the county’s $1.7-million bill in 1998 for sexual harassment cases.

Attorneys and experts say that the department has been slow to fix the problems, even though it is under an 11-year-old court order to do so. Until recently, internal affairs investigators--bogged down by a heavy caseload--would spend up to 18 months looking into complaints of sexual harassment.

Jenifer McKenna, a private consultant on gender equity and co-founder of the California Women’s Law Center, said she believes that the department has failed to take seriously its responsibility in dealing with sexism.

“If male sheriff’s deputies are treating female sheriff’s deputies with such disdain and hatred, you know they’re doing it to women in the community and minorities in the community,” said McKenna, who has studied gender and policing for the Police Commission. “That lack of respect doesn’t end at the Sheriff’s Department door.”

Bayati’s attorney, Steven Rottman, agreed.

“The department seems to take the attitude that if you complain about being harassed, you are an enemy of the department,” said Rottman, who has represented a number of women in sexual harassment cases against the agency. “Our strategy has been to force the Board of Supervisors to confront the issue on a case-by-case basis.”

Myron said he is hoping that by bringing in the consultant--for about $30,000--the department can finally tackle the issues. Myron declined to identify the person under consideration for the contract. However, sources say, the brass wants to hire former Lt. Sue Tyler, a 27-year department veteran and strong advocate of gender equality.

She will be asked to set goals in dealing with recommendations outlined by attorney Merrick Bobb, who was retained by the Board of Supervisors to track problems in the Sheriff’s Department.

Over the past several years, Bobb has called on the department to make a number of reforms--including moving more women into patrol and other positions. But, he said, the department has been slow to respond.

“I’m eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to work with the department to establish a quick timetable for full implementation of the prior recommendations,” he said.

He praised the plan to hire Tyler. “I have worked with Lt. Tyler in the past and she has always been an articulate and forceful spokesperson for equality of opportunity and support for women within the department,” Bobb said.