By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A real estate saleswoman is suing the agency where she once worked and a competing saleswoman, alleging that sexual harassment and other actions made the workplace hostile.

The complaint filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court by Julie Jipson asks for compensation for the alleged hostile work environment as well as for emotional distress and constructive discharge, another way of saying Jipson was forced to quit.

Defendants are Millett Realty and Diane Landry, who sells property through the agency.

Jipson says in her complaint that Landry created a hostile work environment in part by “repeatedly” grabbing Jipson and kissing her on the mouth, by flashing her breasts and dropping her pants, by speaking “in a very sexual, explicit and graphic way,” and by abusing Jipson verbally in front of clients.

Jipson said Millett Realty did little to halt the alleged harassment and that she was eventually forced to go out on medical leave.

“It’s bizarre,” said Millett Realty’s lawyer, Verne Paradie Jr. “These people were the best of friends.”

“I don’t see this case ever making it to a jury,” he said.

Paradie said that once depositions are taken and discovery is complete, he intends to ask the court for a summary judgment dismissing the lawsuit.

He said Jipson was an independent contractor and as such wouldn’t be entitled to protections afforded to employees.

But beyond that, he said Sharon Millett, the agency’s owner, is a well-respected businesswoman who wouldn’t tolerate the kind of actions Jipson claims took place at the agency.

“It’s absolutely false that she went to Sharon about” the allegations until nearly the middle of 2004, Paradie said.

Landry said she wouldn’t comment on the case, instead referring questions to her lawyer, Coley Coyne.

“As far as we’re concerned, the allegations are the product of some poor soul’s imagination,” Coyne said.

He said he would seek a complete psychiatric evaluation of Jipson as part of his defense. He’s already drafted a letter asking that Jipson undergo the evaluation voluntarily. If she doesn’t, he’ll ask the court to order one.

Jipson’s lawyer, Guy Loranger of Saco, called Coyne’s comment “irresponsible and unprofessional.”

He said she’s suffering from emotional distress, but maintains the distress was caused by Landry and the office environment.

Loranger also said he’s hired a private detective who has spoken with people who work at Millett Realty who have substantiated portions of Jipson’s allegations.

Jipson claims the harassment began in the spring and summer of 2002, when much of her equipment and supplies were tampered with, stolen or destroyed.

Beginning in 2003, Landry began to physically and verbally harass Jipson, according to the lawsuit.

Paradie disputed Jipson’s claims, noting that no one else at the busy office saw anything amiss.

He said Jipson’s health records will be brought into the case through discovery. Jipson, in her complaint, said she was on medical leave and had been diagnosed with acute stress disorder, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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