News in Brief

UC to Comply With Verdict Favoring Former Employee

UC has agreed to pay a $2.1 million jury verdict to Dee Kotla, a former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employee who said she was fired because she testified against the lab in court.

Kotla, 55, said she was fired in 1997 because she testified in the sex discrimination case of a coworker. Two juries sided with her, awarding her $1 million in 2002 and then $2.1 million in 2003 after the first trial was thrown out of court.

A motion by UC to have the case dismissed was denied earlier this month.

"I am very happy to have been finally proved right," Kotla said in a statement Thursday.

UC fought against Kotla for eight years until the verdict, arguing that she was fired because she used work resources for personal business, including racking up $4.30 in personal phone calls.

UC lawyers wrote in one brief that "her case was built on a house of cards consisting of inferences that were based on conjecture, speculation or minimal evidence."

UC lawyers could not be reached for comment over the weekend. But Patricia Gillette, a lawyer who represented the lab, told the law journal The Recorder that the lab still disagreed with Kotla's case.

"The lab made a business decision," Gillette said.

Kotla's lawyers said they would continue to seek attorney's fees from the court in a hearing set for July 22.

Kotla said she would use the settlement money help her family, pay off debts and buy a used car and a license plate that reads, "LABLOST."

Josh Keller

Students Assaulted, Robbed On Telegraph Avenue

Berkeley police responded to a call from two males a week ago who were robbed while walking down Telegraph Avenue, said Berkeley police Officer Spencer Fomby.

On June 20, at 8:55 p.m., the victims, both UC Berkeley students, were walking near the corner of Telegraph and Durant avenues when they were approached by a group of five males, Fomby said.

A man in the group began hitting one of the victims repeatedly in the head and punching him in the nose, Fomby said. The victim being struck ran from the corner and called the police on his cell phone, Fomby said.

While he was calling police, the other victim was ordered by another man in the group to empty his pockets, Fomby said. After taking approximately $50 in cash from the victim, the group fled heading westbound on Durant Avenue, Fomby said.

Police searched the area but were unable to locate the group, Fomby said.

"The group was gone by the time police arrived," Fomby said. "They didn't arrest anybody."

The victims described the group as four black men and one white man, all in their early 20s. Fomby said the victims did not recognize anyone in the group as students.

Both victims declined medical attention, Fomby said.

Jennifer Jamall

Red-Light Cameras Soon to Be Operational

Berkeley's newly installed red-light cameras will go into full operation tomorrow at three intersections, giving red-light runners tickets of at least $331.

The cameras will automatically take pictures of cars that run through red lights at the intersections of Shattuck and University avenues, University Avenue and Sixth Street, and Adeline Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.

Almost one-third of collisions at the intersections were due to people running red lights, a statement from the city said.

City officials said they installed the cameras, which have been in operation in a warning phase for the last month, after seeing their successful use in other cities like San Francisco and Fremont.

"It's going to generate revenue, and there are checks to make sure it's not abused," Berkeley City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak said last month.

Tags: