Woodside's Gorilla Foundation settles suit Woodside's Gorilla Foundation settles suit (December 07, 2005)

The Gorilla Foundation in Woodside has settled a lawsuit with two former employees who said they were wrongfully fired after being pressured to show their breasts to Koko the gorilla.

Details of the settlement, reached November 21, were not released.

Former Gorilla Foundation employees Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller claimed they were routinely pressured to expose their nipples to Koko, the gorilla famous for communicating via American Sign Language. According to the two women's allegations, Penny Patterson, the Gorilla Foundation's founder, said that exposing themselves was necessary to bond with Koko, and that they could lose their jobs if they did not "indulge Koko's nipple fetish."

Ms. Alperin and Ms. Keller filed suit in San Mateo County civil court in February claiming wrongful termination and sexual harassment when they refused to expose themselves. The sexual harassment and retaliation claims were resolved in April, after the court sustained the foundation's challenge to the claims. Dr. Patterson and the foundation maintained that there was insufficient evidence of sexual harassment to proceed with the suit.

A lawsuit filed by a third former employee, Iris Rivera, is still pending.

Gorilla Foundation officials, through a press release, said that the termination of Ms. Keller's and Ms. Alperin's employment was "entirely lawful and unrelated to any of the matters raised in their lawsuit."

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