FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1996                          (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
        FOR ALLEGED SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Pennsylvania University that allegedly
failed to take action when two female employees were subjected to
unwelcome physical contact and sexual comments was sued today by
the Justice Department.
     In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the
Justice Department alleged that the California University of
Pennsylvania, in California, Pennsylvania, engaged in sexual
harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.  
     It claimed that the University subjected Melanie Tobias Sumey
and Susan Mongell to sexual harassment and failed to take prompt
corrective action during their employment in the University's
Department of Business and Economics.
     The complaint also asserted that the University retaliated
against a third employee, Barbara Echols, because she opposed the
harassment and participated in an investigation of the complaints
of sexual harassment.
     "We are committed to ensuring that the American workplace is
free of discrimination and that all individuals are given the
opportunity to work in a respectful environment," said Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.  "When a public
employer allows its employees to be harassed based on sex or fails
to act to end the harassment, we will step in." 
     In 1993, Sumey, a secretary, and Mongell, a professor, filed
a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC).  The two alleged that a former chairperson of the
Department sexually harassed them by subjecting them to unwelcome
and offensive physical touching, kisses, and sexual comments.  Also
in 1993, Echols filed an EEOC complaint alleging that the school
retaliated against her for complaining of the sexually hostile work
environment and for participating in an invest-igation of the other
womens' complaints.
     After finding reasonable cause to believe that the school had
discriminated against Sumey, Mongell and Echols, the EEOC referred
the matter to the Justice Department for further review.  In
February, the Justice Department notified the University that it
believed the University had discriminated against the women. When
subsequent attempts to resolve the dispute through nego-tiation
proved unsuccessful, the Justice Department sued.
     Today's complaint seeks a court order requiring the school to
stop its discriminatory practices, compensate Mongell, and 
take other appropriate measures to overcome the effects of the
discrimination.
     After the EEOC referred the case to the Justice Department,
Echols and Sumey settled their cases with the University.
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