Londi Lindell, a former Mercer Island Deputy City Manager, settled a federal sexual harassment lawsuit for $1 million against her former employer, which also alleges that she was fired in 2008 as an act of retaliation, according to The Seattle Times.
Mayor Jim Pearman was unhappy with the settlement, which was reached through an agreement engineered by Lindell’s sexual harassment attorney and the city’s insurer, Washington Cities Insurance Authority. Pearman was hoping for a court trial, that he felt the city would have won and believed Lindell’s claims were false.
The suit exposed a number of incidents embarrassing to city officials. In her allegations, Lindell accused City council member Earnest Jahncke of making comments about her body. He also told her that a managers’ retreat would be a “grab assin’.”
She and her sexual harassment lawyer also claimed multiple incidents of harassment by city officials and employees. Some of the accusations include; a sexual proposition by City Manager Rich Conrad to a female subordinate while on a business retreat, joking both in public and private about body parts and pubic hair.
Though there are laws in place, which strictly prohibit sexual harassment both at work and the nation’s schools it still happens to an alarming degree. Many incidents go unreported because people fear retaliation, which is also prohibited. The victims of workplace harassment are advised to contact the Equal Employment opportunity Commission and a skilled sexual harassment attorney to put an end to the problem.
