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Inappropriate Firehouse Material Led to $200,000 Sexual Harassment Settlement

SILICON VALLEY – Julie LaBlanc was shocked when she found a hard-core pornographic magazine under her 9-year-old son’s pillow. But that wasn’t nearly as surprising as where he got it: the San Jose fire station where she worked as a firefighter.

That discovery eventually led to the city ferreting out dozens of sexually explicit magazines at firehouses across San Jose. It also led to a dispute with the firefighters union over how far the city could go in policing porn and other behavior in a fire department already grappling with sexual harassment complaints.

And now it’s led San Jose officials to offer LaBlanc $200,000 to settle her lawsuit alleging she was harassed on the job for complaining about pornography in Station No. 6.

“In order for the department to move forward, I think this is a good settlement,” said City Attorney Rick Doyle. “We want to make sure we have a safe work space for all our employees. In the case of Ms. LaBlanc, it took a lot of courage for her to come forward.”

LaBlanc filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court in April 2008 alleging her son had brought home a copy of a sexually explicit magazine he had taken from the men’s room at Station 6 while visiting her at work.

According to her lawsuit, when she returned to work the next day she found more than 60 other hard-core pornographic magazines in the station and spoke to her captain about it. The captain alerted the city’s personnel department. An investigation failed to determine who was responsible for the magazines.

LaBlanc alleged that while the city was investigating the matter, she was shunned and taunted by her fellow firefighters, including one repeatedly refusing to give important work-related information to her. Seven months after her initial complaint, she said, a copy of “King,” which bills itself as “the illest men’s magazine ever,” was left in a common area of the station where she would see it. LaBlanc, a fire engineer, has since transferred to another station.

LaBlanc was not available Tuesday, and her lawyer, Joshua Boxer of the Angela Alioto law firm in San Francisco, would not comment on the pending settlement. Doyle said the proposed settlement was reached after mediation before a retired judge. The City Council is expected to vote on its approval Oct. 20.

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