The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[Carrie McLaren <stay.free AT verizon.net>]

Gorilla Foundation rocked by breast display lawsuit
Former employees say they were told to expose chests
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDI191.DTL

 - Patricia Yollin, Chronicle Staff Writer
 Friday, February 18, 2005

Two former employees of the Gorilla Foundation, 
home to Koko the "talking" ape, have filed a 
lawsuit contending that they were ordered to bond 
with the 33-year-old female simian by displaying 
their breasts.

 Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, both of San 
Francisco, are taking on the Woodside nonprofit 
and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson.

 Their lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Mateo County 
Superior Court, alleges sexual discrimination, 
wrongful termination in retaliation for reporting 
health and safety violations, and failure to pay 
overtime or provide rest breaks.

 It seeks more than $1 million total in damages for the two women.

 The suit follows complaints filed by Alperin and 
Keller in January with the California Department 
of Fair Employment and Housing, in which they 
gave identical reasons for why they were fired: 
"I refused to expose my breast to perform acts of 
bestiality with one of the gorillas."

 The lawsuit goes into more detail.

 One example: "On at least two incidents in 
mid-to-late June 2004, Patterson intensely 
pressured Keller to expose herself to Koko while 
they were working outside where other employees 
could potentially view Keller's naked body. ... 
On one such occasion, Patterson said, 'Koko, you 
see my nipples all the time. You are probably 
bored with my nipples. You need to see new 
nipples. I will turn my back so Kendra can show 
you her nipples.' "

 Todd Roberts, a partner in the Redwood City 
office of Ropers Majeski Kohn Bentley, which is 
representing the Gorilla Foundation, said the law 
firm was still reviewing the suit.

 "But I can tell you that based on our review of 
the factual allegations and characterizations in 
the complaint, we deny those allegations," 
Roberts said.

 A call to Patterson and the Gorilla Foundation was not returned.

 The foundation, which has existed since 1976 to 
promote the preservation and protection of 
gorillas, is best known for Koko, who was born at 
the San Francisco Zoo on July 4, 1971, and began 
working with Patterson the following year.

 Koko -- older sister of Kubi, who presided over 
the zoo's Gorilla World exhibit until he died 
last year -- now has a vocabulary of more than 
1,000 words in American Sign Language, according 
to foundation claims that are much debated among 
scientists.

 The subject of books, videos and documentary 
films, the hairy linguist participated in what 
was called the first interspecies chat on the 
Internet in 1998, attracting more than 8,000 AOL 
users.

 San Francisco attorney Stephen Sommers, who is 
representing Alperin and Keller, has a transcript 
of that chat.

 "There's a history with this nipple thing," he 
said, leafing through the transcript and pointing 
out the word "nipple" -- which he'd highlighted 
in pink -- each time it appeared.

 The history, as such, might date back to Koko's 
mother, who reportedly did not have enough breast 
milk to feed her.

 The suit, in any case, says that Patterson would 
interpret hand movements by Koko as a demand to 
see exposed human nipples. She warned Alperin and 
Keller that their employment with the foundation 
would suffer, the suit says, if they "did not 
indulge Koko's nipple fetish."

 During at least three visits, the suit says, 
"Patterson communicated to Alperin that exposing 
one's breasts to Koko is a normal component to 
developing a personal bond with the gorilla."

 The suit says the two women, who never did 
undress, also worked unpaid overtime and faced 
unsanitary conditions, including gorilla urine 
stored in the refrigerator where they kept their 
lunches, rodents in the food preparation area and 
exposed wires.

 They notified the California Department of 
Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational 
Safety and Health, which conducted an inspection 
last Aug. 5 and issued $300 in fines for various 
violations that have since been corrected, 
according to Cal/OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer.

 The two women were fired Aug. 6.

 Three-month employee Alperin, 47, has returned 
to social work and is seeking $719,830 in 
damages. Four-month employee Keller, 48, a 
longtime sign language interpreter, is asking for 
$366,192.

 Gorilla expert Kristen Lukas, curator of 
conservation and science at the Cleveland Metro 
Park Zoo, said she'd never encountered a gorilla 
with a nipple fixation.

 "This is absolutely a first," she said. "I've 
never heard of anything like it."

 The zoo's publicist, Sue Allen, said, "Those of 
us in Cleveland would say: 'Only in San 
Francisco.' "

 E-mail Patricia Yollin at pyollin AT sfchronicle.com.

 Page B - 4
URL: 
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDI191.DTL
 ©2005 San Francisco Chronicle

--
Carrie McLaren
Editor, Stay F---!
tel: 718 398 9324
www.stayfreemagazine.org
www.illegal-art.org