BOSTON, Oct. 27 -- Northwest Airlines agreed Friday to pay $75, 000 as part of a settlement in a sexual harassment complaint filed by the family of a slain employee. The parents of Susan Taraskiewicz filed the complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination claiming the airline did nothing to stop their daughter's co-workers from sexually harassing and threatening her right up until her death in September 1992. The body of the 27-year-old ramp supervisor was found beaten and stabbed in the trunk of her car. Her parents filed the complaint against the nation's fourth largest airline, saying they discovered a diary kept by their daughter that detailed almost daily incidents of harassment and her efforts to report them to the company. The Commission announced in May that it found 'very compelling evidence' from her coworkers that Northwest management ignored her complaints of sexually explicit taunts, lewd graffiti and anonymous phone calls. Commissioner Michael Duffy said the airline also agreed to put up $250,000 to pay for a reward for information leading to the arrest of the woman's killer, and to establish a scholarship in Taraskiewicz's name. Duffy said the award was the largest in the history of the commission for a sexual harassment complaint. Northwest attorney Richard Ward said the settlement was not an admission of guilt. 'Northwest did the best it could under the circumstances. It takes its anti-sexual harassment policy very seriously.' Suffolk County investigators said they were hopeful of making an arrest in the case soon.
'We have a lot of information so far, but were hoping the reward will bring in the last few pieces of the puzzle so we can make an indictment,' Assistant District Attorney Jack Cinquegrana said. He said investigators were looking into a possible link between Taraskiewicz's harassment and a $7 million credit card scam based at Boston's Logan Airport. The four baggage handlers she accused of harassment were among those convicted in the fraud case. He noted the airline has stepped up its harassment education program for workers since the allegations surfaced, but that it has not changed its policy.
