Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290210
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PIKEVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium
U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood made the ruling in a lawsuit filed by Sandra Barber, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's first female mine-inspection supervisor.
Barber sued Nickie Brewer of Wise, Va., MSHA's former Pikeville subdistrict manager, in 1992 for sexual harassment. She claimed that he exposed himself and touched her on the breast during an inspection tour in September 1991.
The trial on damages is scheduled for Monday in U.S. District Court at Pikeville. She is seeking $400,000.
"I think she'll get punitive damages, because his actions were outrageous and nothing that should be tolerated by society," said Tony Oppegard, Barber's attorney.
Brewer was fired in May 1992 after 18 years with the agency based on allegations from Barber and four other female MSHA employees. Brewer appealed his dismissal to the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, saying a supervisor wanted to get rid of him and coerced the women into making the charges.
An administrative law judge upheld the dismissal, and a merit board panel denied his request for a review.
In his ruling, Hood said the earlier decisions proved the truth of Barber's allegations. He used that same reasoning Dec. 15 in dismissing Brewer's counterclaims of libel and malicious prosecution.
"Because the allegations were proven in prior proceedings . . . at trial he cannot put on evidence attempting to refute the fact that he committed assault and battery on her," Oppegard said.
Carl McAfee, Brewer's attorney, could not be reached for comment.
by CNB