BUENA PARK : Trial of Lawsuit Against City Begins

A former Police Department employee suffered “regular and systematic” sexual intimidation that eventually cost her job, her attorney argued Thursday as the trial opened in her lawsuit against the city.

Victoria Chaney, a former community service officer, 40, was continually sexually ridiculed by officers and several supervisors, attorney Carrie MacMillin told the jury in County Harbor Superior Court.

“She was told that if she ever complained again, she would be ruined,” MacMillin said.

Defense attorney Marsha Slough argued in opening statements that what occurred was a matter of perception and that the conduct was not illegal.

“I am not going to sit here and tell you that some of the things were not said . . . but we want to give an accurate perception. What I hope to do is provide you with a bigger picture so you can reach an accurate conclusion,” she said.

It is the second sexual harassment suit against the department set for trial this month. In a suit filed in January, 1990, former police officer Sandra McClaren also says she was sexually harassed and eventually forced to quit. That trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 27.

Chaney’s suit, filed in October, 1990, after she was fired, also names Police Chief Richard M. Tefank, Capt. Charles Self, Sgt. Gerry Smock and city psychologist Thomas Abbot. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Smock’s attorney, John Williamson, said: “The evidence will show that over the seven years (of Chaney’s employment), their paths rarely crossed” and Smock did nothing wrong.

Chaney was hired in 1983. She is married to Sgt. Robert Chaney, who is still with the department.

Both sides agreed Thursday that Chaney was a good employee, getting regular pay raises and even being named Employee of the Month.

Chaney testified Thursday that she was asked out several times by fellow officers, even after telling them that she wasn’t interested. Once, she testified, a supervisor asked her to perform a sex act with him in front of several other supervisors. Chaney said she complained but was told “that is how police officers are.”

In her opening statement, Slough agreed that Chaney had been asked out but noted that she eventually married one of those officers.

“Two officers asked her out, and she didn’t tell her supervisors,” Slough said. “Another officer asked her out, and she married him.”

The last straw came, Chaney said, when she made a private statement during an internal investigation of sexual harassment in the department and it was distributed among several people and became a subject of gossip.