{deck}Alexis Warwick alleged she was fired for protesting and reporting sexual harassment{deckc}

A former West Linn animal control officer is poised to settle a federal sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the police department.

Alexis Warwick contended the West Linn Police Department fired her in April 2010 “in retaliation for her resistance to sexual harassment and sexual discrimination,” according to a lawsuit she filed in December 2010 in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The case was scheduled for a jury trial this month. However, a 60-day order of dismissal was issued June 28 after a mediator announced a settlement agreement was reached between Warwick and the city's insurance company, Citycounty Insurance Services. The insurance company decided to settle and was responsible for paying an undisclosed settlement amount.

Details about the settlement’s terms are unknown. Warwick’s attorney, Stephen Brischetto, said he couldn’t comment on the case. Warwick also declined. City of West Linn officials also declined to provide settlement details or general comments about the case.

Warwick had sought reinstatement in the police department or compensation for lost wages and fringe benefits as well as for mental and emotional distress and damage to her reputation. The amount was to be determined during trial.

According to court records, in December 2009 Warwick told the city’s human resources department she believed she was treated unfairly and was denied training opportunities because she had resisted unwanted sexual advances and sexual comments and because she was single. Warwick was hired in 2004 as an animal control officer. At the time, she was 19 years old.

The city launched a sexual harassment investigation, bringing in Milwaukie Police Chief Bob Jordan to help. He concluded the level of training Warwick received was “roughly comparable” to other area community service officers and didn’t find reason to believe she was denied opportunities because of her reaction to sexual banter in the workplace. However, his investigation concluded that a male officer did make sexual comments to Warwick at work.

According to Jordan’s report, he felt both Warwick and Vince “Vinnie” Moreschi, accused of making those comments, weren’t entirely honest during his investigation.

About a month later, the police department opened investigations of Warwick and Moreschi to determine whether either had lied. The investigator, Dave Kempas, sent a memo to the police chief noting he couldn’t conclude that Moreschi was dishonest, though Moreschi was never notified of the official outcome of the probe. Warwick, meanwhile, was found to be untruthful and was fired.

Warwick’s attorney argued the first and only allegations of Warwick’s dishonesty emerged during an investigation of her sexual harassment claim; she had received positive performance reports over her six years of employment. He contended that when investigators found Warwick was subjected to sexual comments in the workplace, the police department punished her instead of the person reportedly harassing her.

Brischetto also alleged that the department’s past failures to discipline officers accused of sexual harassment were evidence that the police chief “approved of sexual harassment.”

The city’s attorneys argued Warwick was fired only because officials believed she was dishonest during the investigation of her claim. They said some statements contradicted previous versions of her story, and her termination had nothing to do with her gender or marital status.

“Chief (Terry) Timeus made the decision to terminate based on WLPD’s policy to discharge any employee who does not tell the truth in an investigation,” state court records filed in the city’s defense.

Attorneys argued that Warwick had similar training opportunities as the other community service officer at the time, and that those opportunities couldn’t be compared to the training received by sworn officers.

Although Karen O’Kasey, representing the city of West Linn, didn’t respond to requests for an update about the case, she recently said that, of about 30 sworn police officers in West Linn, none is a woman. However, the WLPD has had a handful of women employed in other positions in the recent past.