Former cop wins
harassment suitA federal jury finds that
Maui County subjected her
to a hostile work setting
A federal jury has awarded former policewoman Bonnie Burke $80,000 against Maui County for subjecting her to a hostile work environment and racial and sexual harassment.
The jury also found that Burke was discriminated against because of her gender.
Burke, who now lives on the mainland, said she was happy with the verdict and that it showed the judicial system worked.
"I told the truth and they believed me."
On Maui, Police Chief Tom Phillips said he was not only disappointed in the verdict, but that the case went to trial at all.
"I don't think for this woman we ever did anything bad to her; we were very good to her," Phillips said.
A federal jury in May 1999 had found in favor of the county, but a federal appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial.
Burke, who joined the department in 1991, sued the department in January 1998, contending she was subjected to demeaning and derogatory comments about her gender and race, particularly in 1997 after she fainted on the job.
When she complained about the harassment, she said officers retaliated by "icing" her out or refusing to respond to her calls for backup, putting her and civilians' lives in danger. She said officers would "click" on their radios when she tried to communicate with police dispatchers, preventing her from getting through.
The jury found she had not proven this claim.
She also accused now-retired Deputy Chief Lanny Tihada of sexually harassing her and raping her on three occasions.
Attorneys for Maui County had argued that Burke was not harassed or mistreated.
The attorneys said the department tried hard and bent over backwards to accommodate her and her illness.
After Burke was diagnosed with a blood disorder that made her susceptible to bruising, the department reassigned her to light duty and created a position just for her in Lahaina, county attorney Richard Rand said.
When she returned to patrol, she was the only officer who didn't have to work nights, weekends or rotating shifts. When she went on sick leave, fellow officers donated their sick leave through a leave-sharing program they developed just for her and helped her out financially.
"If we didn't like women or Caucasians in the department, we wouldn't have done what we did," Phillips said.
He said he didn't believe an officer with the number of years she had in the department and who was trained to investigate sexual assaults would not immediately report a rape. Burke never told anyone about the sexual harassment or alleged rapes by Tihada until after he retired from the department and only brought it up just before trial in 1999, Phillips said.
Tihada contends the sex was consensual and that Burke initiated it.
Phillips said the department continues to maintain a zero tolerance policy against any form of discrimination in the workplace.
"Any kind of hostile work environment (complaints) are investigated and we deal with it," he said.