Clerk suing former boss claims he was attacked

Rachael Levy

Monday, May 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A former District Court clerk suing his employer for alleged discrimination said he recently was attacked and his life threatened if he did not drop the federal lawsuit.

Arthur Lane, the first man to be employed as a court clerk in Clark County, has accused his former boss, County Clerk Loretta Bowman, of gender discrimination and creating a hostile work environment.

Lane, 46, said two unidentified men jumped him about 9:30 p.m. May 3 near the corner of Sands Avenue and Howard Hughes Parkway. He said he was walking home from a fast-food restaurant when he was pushed to the ground.

"I was told to stop my depositions, stop my affidavits and tell my lawyer to drop my lawsuit against Loretta Bowman and Clark County," Lane said in a police report filed five days after the attack.

Lane said his wallet and credit cards were not stolen and believes the attack was orchestrated by his former boss.

"She has a lot of power," Lane said. "She could very easily pull this off."

But Bowman's attorney, Walt Cannon, said his client was unaware of the incident until Lane's attorney called his law office. Cannon said he has no reason to doubt that Lane was attacked, but he said, "I can't imagine that some muggers would go into that kind of detail -- almost off a script."

"Loretta Bowman would not do this," Cannon said. "She thinks she has a solid defense in that case. She would have no reason to do this."

Lane, a clerk for the late Judge Thomas Foley, sued Bowman and the county in 1995 for alleged gender discrimination. In the lawsuit, Lane said clerk staff questioned his ability to type and write shorthand, claimed that men's brains were different from women's, pinched his buttocks and wrote "fag" on his desk.

The 2-year-old lawsuit is in the discovery stage, a period when the opposing parties share evidence and take witness depositions. No trial date has been set.

Lane has been unable to provide police with any identification other than the men's heights, crew-cut hairstyles and "military" or "police" builds. Metro Police spokesman Sgt. Will Minor said with so little information and no witnesses, police can do little.

"There's no solvability factor," Minor said. "There's nothing we can do without leads to go on."

Lane said the taller man attacked him while the shorter one held him down. He said he was stomped and kicked more than 20 times on his thighs, hips and left arm and shoulder.

"The kicker told me to not go to the doctor and to not go to the police," Lane said in the police report. "The short man laughed loudly and said, 'That's funny -- the police.'

"I was then told this is just a warning. If I didn't keep my mouth shut, I would wind up in the desert with a bullet in my head."

Lane said the last thing he remembered was being hit in the back of the head. When he awoke, he said he was standing near the sidewalk and his shirt was missing. He said blood was pouring from his head, and he walked the 1 1/2 blocks to his apartment without seeing anyone.

For two days following the attack, Lane said he was frightened to leave his apartment. Finally, he contacted his attorney, who urged him to report the incident to Metro Police.

At the time Lane's lawsuit was filed, Bowman dismissed the allegations and called Lane an "unhappy employee."

"They stand in line to sue. They run against me in office. I can't let it get to me," said Bowman, who has held the elected position since 1966.

Lane was demoted and eventually fired from his clerk's position. He is contesting the termination and said he plans a second lawsuit on that issue.