Lawyer: Female
cop sued just
to get cash

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

A female Maui police officer suing Maui County for alleged sexual harassment and discrimination is only out to get money, says an attorney hired by Maui County.

In closing statements yesterday, attorney Richard Rand said Bonnie Burke constantly complained about her financial hardships to others. Burke also wants to return to her former position as field training officer because it pays more, he said.

A federal jury was expected to begin deliberating today.

Burke, a Maui officer since 1991 and now on stress leave, is seeking general damages for emotional distress and damages for past and future lost wages.

Burke sued the county claiming fellow officers called her obscene and racial names including "haole," made obscene gestures at her and failed to back her up on cases she responded to. She claimed she was retaliated against after she collapsed from stress in April 1997 and attributed it to harassment.

But evidence presented during the trial does not show the department discriminated against females and Caucasians, Rand said.

Burke's superiors have accommodated her by creating a position for her in Lahaina -- taking police reports over the phone -- a program offered in Wailuku -- so Burke, a single mother, didn't have to make the long commute.

Also, after she was diagnosed with a blood disorder, many fellow officers gave her some of their sick leave days through a leave-sharing program. The department also assigned her to a light-duty position overseeing the evidence room where she worked day shifts only from Monday through Friday.

"They wouldn't have done that if they were anti-female, anti-Caucasian," Rand said.

Burke also accused now retired Deputy Chief Lanny Tihada of making sexual advances and raping her on four occasions.

Tihada testified they had sex on two occasions but it was consensual and said Burke was the one who approached him first.

Burke's version of the events kept changing and she never reported the alleged rapes even after Tihada retired, Rand said.

Even after one of these alleged rapes, she allowed Tihada into her home on another occasion and even admitted that she was flattered by his compliments, Rand said. But Burke's attorneys said Burke never reported the incidents because Tihada was a powerful man who was promoted numerous times until he was the No. 2 officer in the department.

"She was afraid of him," said Mike Nauyokas, one of Burke's attorneys.

Burke also loved her job and had a daughter to support. A psychiatrist had testified that it's not uncommon for victims of sexual abuse or harassment not to report the incidents right away because of the trauma they have experienced.

Sexual harassment at the Maui Police Department was so widespread that it inhibited any policy against it, Nauyokas said.