Attorney seeks $875,000 to avoid suit

COLUMBUS (AP) — The attorney for the two young women who have alleged they were sexually harassed while working in the attorney general’s office has asked the state for nearly $900,000.

Rex Elliott, the attorney for Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout, sent a letter to the attorney general’s office Wednesday asking for $400,000 apiece plus attorney’s fees totaling about $75,000. He said the payment would avoid a lawsuit that would continue to gain media attention.

The attorney general’s office has not responded to the request, spokeswoman Michelle Gatchell said Saturday.

An internal investigation found that Anthony Gutierrez’s treatment of Stankoski and Stout violated sexual harassment policy. Gutierrez was hired by the office under former Attorney General Marc Dann, who resigned May 14 in the wake of the scandal.