The state agreed Friday to pay $100,000 to a Liberty County woman who accused former Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Terry White of sexual harassment.

All sides claimed victory in settling the federal lawsuit. And lawyers for each of the litigants expressed confidence that they would have won if the case had gone to trial.

''I believe the $100,000 they are paying me proves that I was violated,'' said Kimberly Johnson, a former employee who accused White of making crude sexual advances when she worked for the department. ''There's an old saying that the proof is in the pudding, and the fact that they're paying pretty much says it all.''

White was fired Jan. 5, 2005, after a rapid investigation by Gov. Jeb Bush's office turned up ''credible'' evidence that he harassed women in the department. No official report of that investigation was released.

Tallahassee attorneys Mike Mattimore and Rob Larkin, representing the state, denied the accusations by Johnson, who said White forced her to put up with unwanted touching, kissing and crude comments as a condition of making her probationary term as a new employee. Larkin said a major reason for settling - besides saving legal expenses - was to protect the identities of ''legitimate victims'' who had filed confidential complaints about White.

''I don't know how many there were,'' Larkin said. ''But there were legitimate individuals who complained about Mr. White - and Ms. Johnson was not one of them - who did not want their names to come out. Ms. Johnson was seeking to make them public in this case.''

Larkin said none of the other women filed suit against White or the department. He said Johnson's attorneys filed a list of 52 potential witnesses and that, after interviewing more than 40 of them, ''not one substantiated any of her claims.''

White's attorney, Bill Waters, said it was appropriate that the state - not White - will pay the settlement.

''On behalf of Mr. White, we are very pleased,'' Waters said. ''We feel he's been vindicated.''

Larkin and Mattimore said settling for $100,000 was cheaper for the taxpayers than interviewing, and taking depositions from, scores of witnesses and preparing for a trial in U.S. District Court.

Johnson's attorney, Lindsay Oyewale of Orlando, scoffed at the state's claim that she had a weak case.

''It's interesting that the department and their attorneys would want to cast doubt on Ms. Johnson's character and proof,'' she said. ''The department chose to give my client 100,000 apologies for the damage that she suffered while employed at the department.''

Mattimore said he was present during White's deposition and that the former secretary denied all of Johnson's allegations. In her lawsuit, Johnson contended that she was ''denied promotions and other job-related benefits'' for complaining about White.

Johnson said she worked at Elder Affairs from June 2003 until resigning last July as a government-operations consultant.

White, who was named to lead the department in January 2002, has moved to Pennsylvania. Previously, he was executive director of Senior Solutions of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.

{mos_sb_discuss:8} Political and Social Soap Box

{mos_sb_discuss:13} Life in Paradise or not

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