Settlement in Penis Pump Judge Case

Former Court Reporter for Judge Who Exposed Himself and Used Penis Pump in Court Wins Settlement
The Associated Press - November 6, 2008

The former court reporter for a state judge who was sentenced to prison after being convicted of indecent exposure while on the bench has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit against the state. According to a document filed in federal court in Tulsa on Monday, the state of Oklahoma will pay Lisa Foster within three weeks after the filing of a final order approving the settlement. The case was settled for $170,000, the same amount paid to the plaintiff in a similar wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the state by Zelma Hindman, the secretary for former Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson. A jury trial in the case had been set to start last week, but was canceled after the settlement was reached last month. Hindman settled her case in August.

Foster claimed that Thompson had fired her because she had reported his behavior to the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints. In her lawsuit, Foster also said Thompson caused her emotional distress through conduct that was "utterly intolerable in a civilized community." Thompson was accused of using a penis pump while presiding over trials and convicted by a Creek County jury in June 2006 on four counts of indecent exposure. He was sentenced to four consecutive one-year prison terms and fined $40,000. He was released in April after serving 20 months of the four-year prison term and has had to register as a sex offender. He also has been disbarred. As part of the settlement, Foster agreed to acknowledge "that the state of Oklahoma has denied, continues to deny, and will deny all allegations of any wrongdoing relating to plaintiff's claims as alleged in the litigation." One of Thompson's attorneys, Guy Fortney, said Thompson is "pleased to have this behind him."