Pasadena : Settlement in Chamber Suit

A former employee of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, whose complaints of racial discrimination and sexual harassment prompted the organization’s chief executive officer to resign last year, has reached a tentative settlement in a lawsuit related to the complaints.

Allison Bedell, who is black, charged in a discrimination suit that chamber head Bruce Ackerman had bypassed her for a promotion to a management job in favor of a less experienced white woman. She charged that Ackerman, who resigned at the end of last year, had demonstrated a pattern of favoritism toward young, white women.

Bert Voorhees, Bedell’s attorney, confirmed that there was a settlement, but he said he could not comment further because of a confidentiality agreement. Chamber President Lary Mielke said the agreement “really hasn’t been technically finalized,” but he declined to comment further.