Stankoski and Stout say $200,000 not enough to settle sexual harassment complaint
The Blade has a small blurb but I recommend reading the Columbus Dispatch article since it has more details. Apparently:
Rex Elliott, the Columbus attorney representing Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout, told The Dispatch that the offer was made by Niki Schwartz, an attorney who unsuccessfully attempted to mediate the complaints last year on behalf of interim Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers.
The proposed settlement, described by Schwartz as being “in the neighborhood” of $200,000, was “completely unacceptable,” Elliott said. It included the stipulation that both women resign. Stout already quit Dec. 19; Stankoski is on extended leave.Elliott proposed a $900,000 settlement, including legal fees, as compensation for persistent sexual harassment during the women’s employment under the supervision of Anthony Gutierrez, Dann’s friend and former general services administrator.
It’s not clear how much would be the actual settlement to the two women and how much would be legal fees, but it appears this is not going to be over before Richard Cordray takes office as the new Attorney General…
chump change…..but I would take it…..
January 6th, 2009 at 12:46 pmMaybe, but it would depend on how much the attorney was going to get. It’s hard to know for sure when we don’t know exactly how much each one was being offered.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:53 pmWhen you look at what these women went through plus forced resignation it is not nearly enough. Assuming they make 30K per year after attorney fees they aren’t even being paid through the end of Dann’s first term.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pmNot to mention the damage done to their reputations and the difficulty they will have finding another job in Columbus.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:36 pmSorry, I was being sarcastic….again….
Don’t know all the facts….but depending on circumstances…..they (the victims)should receive much more and the aggressors should pay dearly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should pay $$$$ and get 5 years in front of a firing squad. The End.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:17 pmlol – Five years infront of a firing squad might be just a bit too much.
But I agree the victims should get more than the lawyers and it should be enough to help them establish new careers since I think their days of government employment is over and it is going to be difficult for them to find other jobs.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:36 pmFind other jobs? Seriously?
Working in the AG’s office the best job these women ever had.
They barely have a high school education and have zero job skills. Add to that their drug convictions, etc. and no one is going to hire them to do anything serious.
January 6th, 2009 at 9:32 pmWell then I guess the AG’s office making the decision to hire two women that you feel have no qualifications created a scenario where they will end up with an early golden parachute…
I’d beg to differ that dealing with sexual harassment or being hired because someone wants to have sex with you doesn’t qualify as the best job ever. Unless they had planned on some type of professional career as call girls, which it does not seem that was what either was looking for…
January 6th, 2009 at 9:37 pmI understand your point. Which is why I’m having a hard time writing about this issue.
I’m not trying to minimize the seriousness of their sexual harassment claim. Obviously Dann, Jennings and Gutierrez need to be held personally responsible for their actions.
But I’ll be honest, I’m having a really hard time feeling bad for these two women. And I’m finding it really difficult to understand how the state could rationalize giving them a MILLION DOLLARS of taxpayer money.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:06 pmI hear you Joseph, almost a million dollars of tax payer money is a lot.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:08 pm[...] I read today that Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout turned down a 200K settlement in their harassment lawsuit against the AG’s office. Their lawyer thinks they deserve something closer to a million [...]
January 6th, 2009 at 11:10 pm