2 Ohio AG workers reject sex-harassment settlement

1/6/2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio Their lawyer says two women at the center of a sexual harassment scandal in the Ohio attorney general's office have rejected a settlement offer worth about $200,000.

Attorney Rex Elliott told The Columbus Dispatch on Monday that the office made a "completely unacceptable" offer to his clients, Vanessa Stout and Cindy Stankoski. Elliott has proposed a nearly $900,000 settlement.

The women filed sexual harassment complaints against Anthony Gutierrez, who served as general services chief to former Attorney General Marc Dann. The complaints unraveled the Dann administration, as Gutierrez and several others were fired and Dann himself stepped down.

Stout resigned from the AG's office Dec. 19 while Stankoski is on medical leave.