Plaintiffs settle harassment case with former San Bernardino County public defender for $3 million
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- A lawsuit filed by four former employees of the San Bernardino County Public Defender's Office alleging harassment, retaliation and assault among other charges has been settled.
According to the plaintiff's attorney, San Bernardino County has agreed to pay his clients $3 million.
The former county public defender, Christopher Gardner, who was also named in the lawsuit, has agreed to pay $40,000.
"This is an example of when women demonstrate the fortitude and bravery to come forward and report wrongdoing," said attorney Brad Gage. "With hard work and tenacious advocacy, we can make a difference."
The four plaintiffs made several allegations in their lawsuit, which centered around the alleged actions of Gardner, who resigned in December 2020.
According to the complaint, Gardner created job assignments for women that he was sexually interested in so he could use his position of power to coerce them to have sex with him.
READ MORE | San Bernardino public defender's office facing sex assault allegations
"My boss pursued me for a romantic relationship," said plaintiff Stacy Thacker during an interview with Eyewitness News in October 2021. "Every time I tried to end it, he refused."
Thacker said Gardner's actions turned violent when she tried to end the relationship.
"The attempts I made to report him resulted in him attempting to run my car off the freeway," said Thacker, who also accused Gardner of assaulting her by grabbing her arm and slamming it into the console of the vehicle they were riding in when she tried to leave.
"When I attempted to report the assault to the police, he used his position of authority to get the police reports thrown out."
Eyewitness News has placed a request for comment to Gardner's attorney.
A San Bernardino County spokesperson provided a statement to Eyewitness News in response to the settlement.
"The County has a strict, long-standing, zero-tolerance policy prohibiting harassment, retaliation, and workplace violence," said spokesperson David Wert in a prepared statement.
"The County maintains that it addressed the matters in question promptly, appropriately, responsibly, and effectively when concerns were brought to the County's attention. The County agreed to settle this case to protect the taxpayers from the high costs of protracted litigation, and to assist the Public Defender's office in moving forward."
Gage is pleased with the settlement, but doubts there have been any significant changes made to the public defender's office so far.
"I think there was a sense of relief, a sense of, 'It's about time,' and a sense of 'Why should it have taken this long to begin with?'" said Gage about his clients' reaction to the settlement.
"When you know that there are a number of individuals that are alleged to have engaged in very serious acts of harassment, basically an animal house-type of situation, the employer has to take corrective action to protect women in the future," said Gage. "That hasn't been done here that we can see."
