A former Newport Beach police dispatcher got positive job reviews for years until her co-worker and husband joined the union representing the city’s officers and testified against management in a colleague’s civil harassment case, her lawyer on Tuesday told jurors deciding her wrongful termination lawsuit.

An attorney for the city, however, said a close friend of the plaintiff, Christine Hougan, led an internal investigation that resulted in her dismissal in 2012 based on 11 rules violations, any one of which could have justified her termination.

Much of Hougan’s on-the-job issues begin when her husband, who was also fired by the city in 2012, got involved with the union, which was making an issue about how then-Police Chief John Kline was hired, plaintiff’s attorney Melanie Savarese told jurors.

John Hougan then testified on behalf of former Officer Neil Harvey in his lawsuit alleging he was harassed because some co-workers in the department believed he was gay. Harvey won a jury verdict of more than $700,000 in 2009.

John Hougan was fired for viewing pornography on his work computer, said attorney Chris Wesierski, who is representing the city in Christine Hougan’s wrongful termination suit.

Christine Hougan was hired in July 1990 and met her husband on the job. The two wed in 1993.

For years, she “met or exceeded” her job requirements as a dispatcher, Savarese said.

Even after Hougan  was the subject of an internal investigation, she received two department commendations, Savarese said.

During Harvey’s trial of his harassment suit, co-workers made derogatory comments about Hougan’s husband and left news articles about the trial in the office so she could see them, Savarese said. Someone even once left a photo of a bomb on John Hougan’s desk, the attorney said.

Last week, Newport Beach police Chief Jay Johnson was removed as a defendant in the wrongful termination suit, but he still factors into the trial as a witness and was sitting with the city’s attorneys in the courtroom today.

Hougan alleges that the chief’s brother, also a police officer, made an “inappropriate” comment about the dispatcher and “leered” at her legs while visiting the Newport Beach police headquarters.

“She was embarrassed the chief didn’t say anything,” Savarese said.

Hougan was “written up” for a profanity-laced conflict with a co- worker after he made a sarcastic remark about her tendency to criticize Johnson, and 90 minutes later she was visibly upset by a 911 call about a young boy who found his mother unresponsive, Savarese said.

Hougan’s co-workers knew she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the rape and murder of her mother, whom her daughter found dead, Savarese said.

An expert is expected to testify about how the tension between Hougan and the police chief “exacerbated” her PTSD, Savarese said.

Another incident that landed Hougan in trouble was when she indignantly confronted her boss over “wife swapping” statements he made about her at a civil service board hearing regarding her husband’s firing, Savarese said.

The chief surreptitiously recorded the exchange with Hougan, according to Savarese.

City officials essentially based their firing of Hougan on her PTSD symptoms, Savarese said. Police officers in the department were trained to recognize signs of”‘critical incident stress,” the attorney added.

Hougan was also fired for discussing the private civil service board hearing with a friend. She was ordered not to discuss it with anyone, but she thought that instruction only applied to her co-workers, Savarese said.

Other officers who committed worse rules violations were not only kept on the job, but received promotions, Savarese said.

Wesierski said Sgt. Mark Hamilton, who was tapped to do an internal investigation of the dispatcher, attended the Hougans’ wedding and was active with the union in its efforts to challenge Kline’s hiring.

“It was one of the hardest things he ever had to go through,” Wesierski said. “If anyone was going to be retaliated against, it would be him.”

Hougan was fired in part for her penchant to use her work email to insult the police chief and lash out at her husband with profanity, Wesierski said.

Christine Hougan angrily confronted Johnson about the “wife swapping comment,” not realizing that it came up during the civil service board hearing because it was something her husband searched for online while viewing illicit pictures, Wesierski said. During that conflict, she referred to her boss as “hon,” Wesierski said.

It should have been obvious to Hougan that her boss was using his phone to record the exchange with her, Wesierski said.

Hougan flew off the handle at work one day when she found out her husband was being investigated for running over a seagull with a car he was driving at work, Wesierski said. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing, Wesierski said.

When John Hougan was busted viewing pornography on his work computer from 30 minutes to an hour each day, his supervisors “tried to save him” by demoting him from sergeant to patrol officer, the city’s attorney said. John Hougan admitted the conduct was “embarrassing” but repeated it, prompting his firing, Wesierski said.

Wesierski added that there was no evidence Christine Hougan ever told her supervisors of her PTSD diagnosis.

Johnson’s brother did not make an inappropriate comment about her attire, Wesierski said.

The chief’s brother said, “Oh, I really like that uniform. And he didn’t leer at her. He didn’t make any comments,” the attorney said.

— City News Service

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