Sexual Harassment Case Merits Trial, Judge Rules

A sexual harassment suit against Ventura County’s former chief administrative officer should proceed to trial, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Barbara Lane declined Monday to dismiss the civil suit filed by Terry Dryer, former deputy administrative officer to Harry Hufford.

Trial is set to begin May 19.

According to the lawsuit, Hufford, 71, made the administrative office environment so hostile to Dryer that she was forced to leave her job in August 2001. She filed suit against Hufford and the county in November 2001, seeking $1 million in damages and lost wages.

Dryer, 52, contends that after she spurned Hufford’s advances, he retaliated by becoming verbally abusive and critical.

Hufford’s attorney, Nancy McClelland, said Dryer’s complaints are without merit and do not warrant a trial.

Dryer’s allegations are strengthened by a secretary in the administrative office who said she was also harassed by Hufford. The 33-year-old woman said that Hufford took her out for drinks once after work to talk about her career, according to court documents.

She said Hufford drank three cocktails and suggested that one of her career paths should be a “trophy wife” on the “arm of a rich man.”

“He placed his hand under the table and on her knee and leg and left it there,” according to court documents. “[She] was shocked, stunned and confused and did not know what to do about the situation.”

The woman said Hufford followed her outside and slipped into the passenger seat of her car. He asked her for a ride but she refused and “drove home shaken, disturbed and upset,” the documents stated.

After learning about the incident, Dryer became so upset she went to see a psychologist, according to court records.

In the lawsuit, Dryer said Hufford would often comment on her legs and clothes and once asked, “Are redheads as feisty as I have heard they are?” Dryer said that when she told Hufford she had been married 21 years, he responded, “You must be very lonely being married that long.”

She said the county did nothing about her concerns when she brought them to Barbara Journet, director of human resources. In fact, Dryer said, Journet told her that filing a complaint would cost Dryer her career.

Dryer said she never confronted Hufford directly about his alleged sexual overtures because she was fearful of his powerful position. She was one of Hufford’s top assistants when he served as interim county chief from January 2000 to March 2001. Dryer has not returned to her job since taking disability leave in February 2001, said her attorney, Donald Adams.

Neither Hufford nor Dryer attended Monday’s hearing.