Tripp to Get Privacy Settlement
Defense Department Leaked Personal Information About Her
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page A13
Linda Tripp, who secretly taped Monica Lewinsky's confessions of a sexual affair with President Bill Clinton, will receive a lump-sum payment of $595,000 from the Defense Department to settle claims that officials violated her privacy by leaking personal information.
Under the terms of a court settlement announced yesterday, Tripp will also receive a retroactive promotion and retroactive pay at a higher salary level for 1998, 1999 and 2000.
The agreement ended four years of litigation. Tripp, who worked for the Pentagon as a public affairs specialist, sued the department alleging that officials released private information about her in retaliation for her role in the Lewinsky matter, which led to impeachment proceedings against Clinton. The Pentagon ultimately conceded that its officials had violated the Privacy Act, which prohibits the government from releasing unauthorized personal information about Americans to nonfederal organizations. But Pentagon lawyers argued that the violations were minor.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan rejected Pentagon efforts to narrow Tripp's claims and urged the parties to work with a mediator to achieve a settlement. Tripp left the Pentagon in January 2001 with the change in administrations. She has since been reported to be battling breast cancer and has not worked.
One of her attorneys, Michael Kohn, said she intends to file for retirement benefits. But he held open the possibility that Tripp might apply for a federal job in the future. At her insistence, he said, the settlement does not restrict her right to work again for any branch of the federal government.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
posted by Richard at
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
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