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After more than a year of legal battles and court time, the gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the city of Sunnyvale by four former female public safety officers reached a settlement on May 14, resulting in more than $1 million being paid to the women. And as a condition of the settlement, all parties involved are denying there was any wrongdoing in the case.
The settlement was recommended by former Magistrate Judge Edward Infante as a way to avoid mounting attorney's fees, continued litigation and ongoing disruptions to the department of public safety. The four women will divide $1,050,000, with an additional $900,000 going to their lawyers.
The suit began Feb. 21, 2003, when three women, Pascale Nadya Wowak, Joy Booker and Penny Lenee Alderin, charged that they were discriminated against by the city because they were women. Wowak charged that she was discriminated against because of pregnancy as well.
In addition to back pay, compensation for lost wages and benefits and punitive damages, the women also asked for an
injunction against the department to prevent future discrimination.
The women alleged that the department—which employed 246 men and only 17 women at the time—advanced women slower than men, denied them equal job assignments and retaliated against those who opposed the biased practices.
In addition, Booker alleged that she was assaulted and battered by several officers during what the department said was a simple training exercise.
On May 2, 2003, another former officer, Heather Rangel, filed charges of sexual harassment against the department.
The lawyer representing the women, Vincent Hurley, said the two parties had been trying to settle for much of the last year, and in the past few months, struggles to get all the parties together in agreement delayed the conclusion.
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