Archdiocese ordered to pay $700K in computer-porn case

CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge in Chicago says the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago must pay $700,000 to a former employee who said she was fired for complaining another employee was viewing pornography on a church computer.

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported Tuesday that Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ordered that Lynn Sanchez be paid $200,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages following a jury verdict in Sanchez's favor.

A lawyer for the archdiocese says it will appeal.

Sanchez worked as a parish assistant in 2014. She says archdiocese records wrongly indicated the tech-support worker was looking at women in swimsuits. Among her allegations was that the archdiocese made it harder for her to seek tech help because she complained.

She said her treatment violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Information from: Chicago Daily Law Bulletin , http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com