Ruby P Zilly

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to pay a Riverside County woman $1.5 million to settle a sexual harassment suit--believed to be the largest settlement by a government agency in such a case in California. The settlement, which will go into effect today unless the City Council blocks it, comes as a ranking DWP official acknowledged serious problems with sexual harassment in the ranks, with five employees fired for harassment in the last two years and 12 others suspended.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has agreed to pay a Riverside County woman $1.5 million to settle a sexual harassment suit--believed to be the largest settlement by a government agency in such a case in California. The settlement, which will go into effect today unless the City Council blocks it, comes as a ranking DWP official acknowledged serious problems with sexual harassment in the ranks, with five employees fired for harassment in the last two years and 12 others suspended.

A security officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has sued the city and several former supervisors and co-workers, alleging that she was sexually harassed for four years. Ruby P. Zilly, who has been on leave since March, said in the lawsuit that repeated complaints to DWP managers did not stop male co-workers from verbally and physically harassing her.

The last year hasn't been a good one for the Department of Water and Power. First the employees struck for a pay raise; then the managers went hog-wild in feeding themselves at public expense during the work stoppage. Now a major sexual harassment problem comes to light within the nation's largest municipally owned utility. If the DWP's management knew of the problem--as it acknowledges it did--why did the harassment continue?

She was the new employee, and the first woman to work in the warehouse. Soon she was one of the guys, trading playful punches with her four Department of Water and Power colleagues and withstanding a daily litany of dirty jokes. But eventually it went well beyond offensive words and roughhousing and ended in charges of rape in the workplace. The single mother was reassigned for her own protection and three of the four men were discharged for sexual harassment, according to city documents.