District pays off in second sex suit against police photo lab chief
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
September 29, 2009
The District of Columbia has agreed to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars because of a second separate sexual harassment lawsuit against the chief of the police photography lab.
Former photographer Mary Gilkey had accused longtime photo chief William Gresham of making unwanted sexual advances.
The District last month agreed to pay Gilkey $200,000 to settle her suit, according to her lawyer, Ted E. Williams. In 2001, the city settled a similar complaint against Gresham by former employee Tina Hall-Johnson.
Gresham, who supervised both women, remains the chief of the police photo lab, according to the Metropolitan Police Department's Web site. Williams has worked for the city 39 years.
Williams said Gresham, whose duties for decades have included being the official photographer to the police chiefs past and present, believes his association with high-ranking police officials allowed him to sexually harass his workers with impunity.
"Gresham apparently believed he had a green light to create a hostile environment with females under his control," Williams charges in the suit. "It's clear the District failed to protect its employees from this sexual predator."
Police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said she cannot comment on personnel matters.
According to Gresham's own testimony, the police department never disciplined him after the Hall-Johnson case. He also testified that he has not had sexual harassment training course since 2002, court records show.
According to Gilkey's lawsuit, Gilkey complained to her bosses about Gresham's advances, but they failed to take action.
In 1998, Gilkey said she told investigators in the Hall-Johnson probe that while working in the darkroom, Gilkey turned around and saw Gresham exposing himself and smiling. Gilkey said she ran out of the room and reported it to his supervisor.
Among Gilkey's claims are that, over the years, Gresham offered her thousands of dollars to perform sex acts, commented about her breasts and showed her pornography.
Court documents do not say how much the city settled with Hall-Johnson, but records show that the District paid more than $76,000 in attorney fees.
In 2003, two years after the District settled with Hall-Johnson, the police department awarded Gresham with a lifetime achievement service award for "exemplif[ing] the qualities of dedication, commitment and service to others in furthering the Department's mission."
