Orange County Jury Awards Teacher $250,000 in Harassment Suit

SANTA ANA — An Orange County Superior Court jury Friday awarded $250,000 in damages to an Orange County chemistry teacher who alleged that she had been sexually harassed by school administrators.

In her lawsuit, Sharon Daly Forslund, 51, of Lake Forest contended that she was sexually harassed in 1985 by the principal and assistant principal at Mission Viejo High School and that they transferred her to another high school when she complained to their supervisors.

After deliberating for nearly two days, the jury found that both administrators--Principal Robert A. Metz and Assistant Principal Wilbur Chong--and Saddleback Unified School District did retaliate against Forslund, but found that Chong was the only administrator who sexually harassed her.