FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1995                           (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


   PHOENIX EMPLOYEES ACCUSED OF PERMITTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT TO
       UNDERGO TRAINING UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AGREEMENT


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Phoenix Department of Aviation, which
was sued for allowing its only female employee to be sexually
harassed, will train its supervisors on sexual harassment under an
agreement reached today between the Justice Department and the
city. 
     Last December, the Justice Department sued the city after
Vicki L. Nichols, an air conditioning mechanic employed by the
city, complained that her colleagues had drawn sexually explicit
pictures in the workplace and etched her name beneath them.  The
federal suit alleged that the city discriminated against Nichols by
subjecting her to sexual harassment.
     In announcing today's settlement, Deval L. Patrick, Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights, said that the city has agreed
to:
    hire a consultant to train all supervisory personnel in the
     Aviation Department about sex discrimination and sexual
     harassment;

    invite employees from each division of the Aviation Department
     to meetings on issues affecting women in the department and
     after assessing the workplace, recommend any changes affecting
     the working conditions of women; and,

    report any complaints of sex discrimination and sexual
     harassment to the Justice Department for the two years that
     the agreement remains in effect.

     Ms. Nichols today reached a separate agreement with the City
of Phoenix.
     "The agreement will help to educate employers and sensitize
supervisors to the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace,"
added Patrick.
     The suit settled today stemmed from a complaint filed by
Nichols with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 
In her complaint, Nichols claimed that she had discovered sexual
drawings and obscenities with her name and initials engraved into
the lead covering of two air conditioning units in a terminal of
the Sky Harbor airport where she worked.  
     Nichols also claimed that when she reported the incident to
her supervisors they not only failed to remove the drawings but
inappropriately notified the otherwise all-male crew about how the
drawings had upset her and where they were located.
     The EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that the city had
discriminated against her and referred the case to the Justice
Department.  After the Justice Department confirmed the EEOC's
findings and when pre-suit efforts to resolve the matter through a
consent decree failed, the Justice Department sued.  
     "The case shows that the Justice Department will act swiftly
against sexual harassment," said Janet Napolitano, U.S. Attorney in
Phoenix. "The agreement will substantially reduce the likelihood
that such harassment will recur in the City of Phoenix Aviation
Department." 
     Today's agreement, which must still be approved by the court,
was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
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