Fired Lawyer Awarded $2 Million Ex-Attorney Said He Was Fired For Reporting Sex Harassment

A corporate lawyer who contended he was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment of insurance company employees has been awarded $2.07 million by a King Count Superior Court jury.

A 12-member jury found unanimously for William Houck, 43, of Issaquah, who, until his dismissal two years ago, was head of the branch legal office of Farmers Insurance Exchange in Seattle.

Houck’s lawyer, David Breskin, said Tuesday that he believes the jury award is the largest ever in Washington under the state’s discrimination statutes, although no records are kept on damages awarded by juries.

Jurors returned the verdict Friday.

The lawsuit was filed against Farmers Group Inc., the management company for Farmers’ subsidiaries, and Farmers Insurance Exchange, the claims division of the insurance carrier.

A Farmers representative said the company was “very disappointed” in the decision.

“We believe there are substantial issues for an appeal, although that decision has not been made yet,” Diane Tasaka, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-based Farmers Group Inc., said Tuesday.

“We’re sure that if the jury had heard all the evidence, they would have reached a different result.”

Tasaka said she wasn’t free to discuss that evidence.

Breskin said Houck reported to Farmers’ human resources department in March 1994 that several female secretaries in the legal office had complained of sexual harassment by a male attorney working under Houck. The male attorney was personally given a formal warning by Houck, Breskin said.

The male attorney and two other male lawyers in the office then began complaining about Houck to his superiors, Breskin said.

“They set him up to be fired,” he said.

Houck, who joined the branch office in 1984 and became managing attorney five years later, had always received good performance ratings, Breskin said. But after the other attorneys complained about him, Farmers began “papering” Houck with allegations of poor performance, Breskin said.

Farmers told Houck that he had a psychological condition that made it impossible for him to practice in court, Breskin said.

Houck was fired in September 1994.