Guest opinion: Daughter stood tall in face of harassment

Saturday, Oct. 4, 1997 | 6:33 a.m.

My daughter, Mary Howard, was the Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who recently won a half-million dollar sexual harassment verdict against the state in Reno federal court.

Her troubles began in the patrol academy when she asked her sergeant what to do about a cadet hitting on her. She obeyed an order to bring a sexual harassment charge and was branded a troublemaker. Despite her troubles, she led her district in drunken-driving and felony arrests for years.

Hopefully, the verdict means no father will receive phone calls like mine. What do you say to a new officer who stopped a car registered to a known violent felon and waited for backup that never came? I told Mary, "Trust the system."

What do you say when fellow troopers were ordered to shun your daughter, and her superiors refused her required training? Mary personally paid for the courses and used her leave time to attend. The patrol sent male troopers to the courses on state time with paid travel, per diem and tuition.

Like any normal fool, I advised Mary to take her troubles to the attorney general's office. For four-plus years, the AG responded with letters, saying her complaints were being analyzed. Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa was playing a cruel political prank on her. Finally, Mary found scrappy Kenneth J. McKenna, a Reno lawyer.

When the trial came, a Carson City woman said the patrol chief's secretary told her of a campaign to oust Mary.

A Reno dispatcher told how a trooper twice grabbed her breasts. She complained to Capt. James Farmer. Garbage was dumped on her desk. Giggling troopers asked to play with her breasts. She switched to a graveyard shift and finally was forced to take a demotion and pay cut. She now commutes from Reno to her Carson City job.

The offending trooper was the sexual harassment instructor for Mary's academy class. He was suspended for 10 days. Having endured rejection by a woman who preferred her wedding vows to his lust, the trooper was promoted to sergeant.

Farmer was promoted to major. He sat alongside the defense team throughout the trial. State workers, testifying for Mary, faced his glare. His scowling presence lent an aroma of cronyism and intimidation to the proceedings. Testimony told of a condom thrown into Mary's mail and the two years it took to get a response. A male trooper made an identical complaint and received a 24-hour response. A trooper stalked Mary on and off work and hid her subpoenas. Standing amid other troopers in the Las Vegas office, she was called a f****** c***.

Since legal ethics say an attorney cannot represent both parties in a dispute, Del Papa should get out of the harassment business. McKenna held up a poster showing Del Papa with her zero-tolerance slogan and an 800 number for unwary victims to call.

"This woman will be your next governor," McKenna said. "You need to send her a message."

The message was loud and clear, but Del Papa still didn't get it. Meanwhile, Mary's mother, April Hess Townley, and I remain in tremulous awe of our splendid daughter.