VENTURA COUNTY DEPUTIES FILE SUIT : FEDERAL CASE STEMS FROM 5-YEAR-OLD CLAIM ALLEGING RACISM, SEXISM.

Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer

Nine African-American deputies have filed a federal lawsuit against the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in a case arising out of a 5-year-old claim charging a pattern of racial and sexual discrimination dating back many years.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, had not previously reached the courts because sheriff's officials and representatives for the deputies had been attempting to handle it in negotiations outside of court.

The suit was filed by nine on-the-job deputies and three former employees who have been working with the department since at least 1988 and whose 1991 civil claim alleged harassment, retaliation, a hostile work environment and discrimination based on their ethnicity and sex. Three of the deputies are female.

Both sides say the ongoing negotiations over the claim have resulted in substantive policy changes within the Sheriff's Department.

Still unresolved, however, is whether individual deputies are entitled to a financial award for damages from the Sheriff's Department and whether the Sheriff's Department must pay the deputies' attorneys' fees.

The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that African-American deputies were not provided requested backup from other officers; that they were confronted with the open sale or display of ``items associated with and/or made by members of the Ku Klux Klan. . .''; and that they were subjected to verbal, visual and physical harassment.

Though the complaint filed by the plaintiffs Wednesday does not offer specific examples, a 1991 claim did: one deputy said that someone placed a black toy pig with large red lips, dressed in a police uniform, next to his nameplate.

A sergeant said he saw a poster instructing deputies on motorcycle detail to wear KKK helmets and dress like Nazis.

Other incidents included a sergeant allegedly telling officers ``the only reason African-American people come to Thousand Oaks is to commit crimes.''

The department investigated the plaintiffs' 1991 list of claims and, without admitting that the department itself was at fault, took action, said attorney David B. Epstein, who represents the Sheriff's Department.

Epstein said the department disciplined those people involved in allegations that were substantiated and implemented training programs on sensitivity and minority relations.

As negotiations turned toward the issue of paying damages and attorneys' fees, the talks have stalled.

Though the lawsuit states no dollar amount, the deputies have previously requested damages of $7.5 million. And their attorneys, working on a contingency fee basis, have amassed bills over the last 5-1/2 years amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, attorneys said.

``We knew as of probably a week ago that it was just a matter of getting the phone call'' about the lawsuit, said Epstein. ``That doesn't mean we were happy about it, but we knew it was inevitable that it would happen.''

Epstein, while acknowledging individual incidents where deputies were out of line, contends the department is not a racist institution and that it has dealt with problems brought to its attention.

Consequently, he said, the department is not prepared to concede that it is at fault or pay damages to individual deputies. Such action would likely be bad for morale, Epstein said.

``It's not our strategy or intent to escalate the situation, or to take a hard-line,'' Epstein said. ``But on the other hand the department is not going to concede to accusations that it simply does not agree with.''

Ben Voorhees, one of the attorneys representing the deputies, charged that the issue has ended up in court because the Sheriff's Department has purposely stalled the negotiations.

Voorhees contends sheriff's officials are nervous about completing final negotiations and they preferred that a judge have a hand in the process.

``I'm hopeful that at the end of this process that we will reach an agreement, that we will resolve the entire case and the (court) case will be dismissed,'' Voorhees said.

Nevertheless attorneys' fees remain a critical issue, said Voorhees. He said he has been working on the case without payment since 1991. He said that the plaintiffs' attorneys are entitled to their fees now, under their negotiation agreement with the county and under the law.

Epstein said he, too, would prefer to settle the matter out of court, but he contended that the plaintiffs' attorneys are not entitled to fees unless the court makes a legal determination that the department engaged in discrimination. No such determination has been made.

Epstein said the Ventura County Sheriff's Department is ``a very progressive place'' compared to other employers, especially other law enforcement employers. Sheriff's attorneys point out that even a consultant recommended by the plaintiffs' attorneys found no ``hard evidence'' of ongoing, systematic discrimination in hiring and promotions or any verbal harassment of minority deputies.

Instead, according to Epstein, consultants found that African-Americans fared better than whites in the department.

Voorhees disputes those claims and indicated that racism and sexism continues to exist in the department, though not on the previous scale that existed before African-American deputies filed their claim in 1991 and entered negotiations to implement changes.

The plaintiffs' attorney contends those deputies are now entitled to damages for the physical and emotion toll of their ordeal, plus back pay for such things as promotions that they should have received.