DENVER — The city of Denver has reached a $200,000 settlement with a courtroom clerk who said she was fired after she accused a city judge of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Rebecca Norris, who gave 9NEWS permission to share her name, said on Tuesday that they "decided to resolve the matter to end litigation."
"Thank God it is over," she said. "I stand by these allegations.”
Denver city council approved the settlement on Monday night.
The city of Denver released the following statement about the settlement:
Rebecca Norris and the City and County of Denver have resolved the litigation filed by Ms. Norris. Both parties stand by their respective litigation positions and neither party has admitted liability or merit to any of the claims or defenses now pending in litigation. The parties wish to resolve their disputes without further protracted litigation.
In her lawsuit, Norris claimed that in the summer of 2016, senior County Court Judge Andrew Armatas kissed her and touched her breasts in an empty courtroom.
The complaint said he also told her, "You look like you like to get dirty. You look like you could get wild."
Norris said in the lawsuit that she reported the unwanted sexual advances to her immediate supervisor that day but that the city did not investigate the allegations for two years.
In 2018, the lawsuit says that Norris hired an outside consulting firm to investigate. That same year she also reported the alleged assault to both her new immediate supervisor and the Denver Police Department and filed charges of employment discrimination and retaliation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
Norris was fired in January 2019 because the city said her allegations against Armastas were false and dishonest, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that multiple other court clerks reported to investigators that Armastas asked them out on dates repeatedly and was known for hugging women.
The lawsuit requested Norris be reinstated into her position, be compensated for back pay and loss of benefits, and be given an undisclosed amount of money.
Armastas retired as a presiding court judge in January 2013, but the lawsuit says he continued to work part time, filling in for other judges. It's not clear if he is still doing that work.
Norris had worked as a judicial assistant with the city since 2007.
It's not clear if Norris was criminally charged for the reported assault.
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