Sheriff’s Commander Target of Charge

A 23-year veteran of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has been accused of sexual harassment by his former secretary, who says in her claim that she was pressured into having an affair and then subjected to his unwanted fondling and suggestive remarks for years.

Suzanne Farmer, 36, an employee for eight years and former secretary to then-Capt. Myron Klippert, now a commander, said Klippert invited her out for drinks the day she applied for the job.

Married at the time, Farmer said Klippert, 45, “immediately engaged in heavy petting and other acts of a sexual nature” when they met that night.

Farmer’s claim with the county, filed in late January, states that she was pressured into having an affair with Klippert, “began to suffer psychologically” and eventually was divorced. She said she feared losing her job if she spoke out. Farmer now works as a secretary for a captain at the Las Colinas jails.

Klippert did not return several telephone calls from a reporter. Rick Pinckard, the police department’s legal counsel, said the claim would be investigated.

Klippert was named in a claim against the county filed in 1990 by former Sheriff’s Capt. Maudie Bobbitt, who alleged sexual discrimination and slander involving then-Sheriff John Duffy and former Assistant Sheriff Jack Drown. It was later dropped.