Firefighters win damages over gay pride parade

Feb 18 02:03 PM US/Eastern
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Firefighters at the Gay Pride Parade on Santa Monica Boulvard in 2008 in We...


Four firefighters ordered to take part in a gay pride parade in California have been awarded damages after successfully suing San Diego city for sexual harassment, court records showed Wednesday.
The firefighters were awarded a combined total of 34,300 dollars to compensate for lost earnings and emotional distress.

A lawyer for the four men -- Captain John Ghiotto, Jason Hewitt, Alex Kane and Chad Allison -- described the award as "a little low."

However attorney Charles LiMandri said the case had established the principle that no government employee would be treated the same way again.

"That was the main thing," LiMandri said. "That's what we've been fighting for one and a half years and two trials."

Jurors were unable to reach a decision in the first civil trial.

During the case, defense lawyers said Ghiotto, Allison, Kane and Hewitt were subjected to crude comments, vulgar actions and simulated sex acts during the 2007 Pride Parade in San Diego. The men claimed to have had unwanted sexual material delivered to their fire station after the event.

LiMandri also said his clients witnessed a man groping another man along the parade route, creating an offensive work environment.

San Diego Deputy City Attorney Don Shanahan countered that the plaintiffs never told supervisors they were subjected to sexual harassment, and said the city planned to appeal the verdict.

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