News In Brief

UC Settles Lawsuit With Women at Lab

The UC Board of Regents will give thousands of female employees at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory $9.7 million in damages in a tentative settlement approved yesterday for a class-action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination in promotion and salaries.

The payment will be distributed to approximately 3,200 women, from technicians to scientists, employed at the lab during the past six years. Women currently employed will receive a 1 percent pay increase.

Up to $8.2 million will go to attorney fees, lab officials said.

"I think this is a landmark settlement of employment discrimination claims," said Jim Sturdevant, lead counsel for the case.

The terms still must be approved by Alameda County Superior Court.

The lawsuit stems from a class-action lawsuit filed in 1998 with plaintiffs' claims for potential damages between $250 million to $500 million. Some of these original allegations were dismissed, lab officials said.

Lab spokesperson Susan Houghton said it was in the interest of both parties to settle the case.

It is the largest payout in the lab's history, she said.

"It does not admit guilt," Houghton said. "We just wanted to dot the I's and cross the T's to make sure there are no statistical differences."

Houghton said that there were some salary disparities at the lab, but that the differences varied by department and were not systematic or across the board.

The settlement comes on the heels of a restructuring in the lab's promotion and pay increases last year to bring them more closely in line with performance evaluations, Houghton said.

In recent years, more women have been promoted to higher positions, Houghton said.

The lab will conduct annual pay and promotion equity studies to identify any disparities in the future, Sturdevant said.

Sturdevant said these changes at the lab would help those who have been passed over for promotions in the past.

"I believe this has caused a great fissure in the glass ceiling," said Shirley Jennings, a computer scientist who has worked at the lab for 22 years and was part of the class-action lawsuit.

Emma Schwartz

Berkeley Woman Dies In Possible Suicide

A Berkeley woman was found dead from an apparent overdose of pills in her Southside home Wednesday afternoon in a possible suicide, police said.

Danette Crawford, 26, was found in her home about four blocks from campus on the 2400 block of Dwight Way just before 1:30 p.m., said Berkeley police Officer Kevin Schofield.

Crawford was identified as a student, although it was unclear what school she had been attending, said Supervising Coroner Frank Gentle of the Alameda County Coroners Office.

Crawford is not currently listed among registered UC Berkeley students.

The coroner's office is not releasing the exact cause of death yet, although an autopsy was performed yesterday morning.

Police did not say what type of pills Crawford consumed or who discovered her.

Anybody with information about this incident should contact the Berkeley Police Department at 981-5900.

A 24-hour help line is offered by University Health Services at 643-7197.

Alicia Wittmeyer

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