DATE: Friday, May 2, 1997                   TAG: 9705020659

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   40 lines

GILMORE REPRIMANDS STAFF ATTORNEY FOR REMARK

Attorney General James S. Gilmore III on Thursday condemned an underling's letter to a prominent Richmond attorney that called her a ``bushy-tailed feminist.''

``It was an outrageous thing to say,'' Gilmore said. ``We're just not going to tolerate that kind of language. . . . It's unprofessional.''

Gilmore said the letter writer, Assistant Attorney General Allison Landry, was reprimanded and removed from a case that tests federal gender-bias laws.

``She was told in clear and forceful language that her conduct fell far below the standard that applies to attorneys who work in my office and that any repetition of such conduct would not be tolerated,'' Gilmore said.

Landry's ``bushy-tailed feminist'' comment was targeted at lawyer Eileen Wagner, in a letter to her. Wagner said she had been given no formal notification of Landry's removal from the case.

Wagner said the letter was not typical of her experience corresponding with attorneys.

``Sometimes letters are colorful, which I appreciate as a former English teacher,'' she said. ``But to be a frontal attack on an individual, I've never experienced this before.''

Describing the letter as a ``failure in supervision,'' Wagner said she brought the letter to the attention of Landry's supervisors in mid-April. She also said she has had many good working relationships with members of Gilmore's office.

Wagner is known in civil rights circles for her work in sexual assault and harassment cases, often involving college students.

She sat on Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer's task force on sexual assault in 1991.

The letter was written regarding the case of Sheronne Thorpe, who claimed she was raped in a dorm at Virginia State University in 1995. The man charged was acquitted.

Thorpe is suing VSU under Title IV, the federal law barring gender bias, and she's suing her alleged attackers for violating the Violence Against Women Act. Gilmore's office is defending the university.

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