A San Francisco dominatrix turned civil servant who found herself working for a former client has won a sexual harassment settlement with the federal government.
Susan Peacher claimed in her suit that Richard Soulam, an office manager with the Treasury Department, first tried to make a date with her for an S&M session and then refused to let her alone, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. She said he made himself her manager.
Peacher's settlement includes $35,000 in damages, $25,000 in legal expenses, a transfer, permission to work at home one day a week and restoration of 800 hours of leave.
Peacher said she became a dominatrix because she needed the money and then decided to seek the security of government work when the Bay Area economy went south in 2002. She told the newspaper that her work involved fantasy role-playing, not prostitution.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
