Lawsuit over ape's 'nipple fetish' settled

Lawsuit over ape's 'nipple fetish' settled
Fri Dec 2, 2005 11:06 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two women who had taken care of Koko, a gorilla who communicates with humans by sign language, have settled a lawsuit charging the president of its sanctuary urged them to show their breasts to the ape, a lawyer said on Thursday.

Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller had sued the Woodside, California-based Gorilla Foundation, claiming its president had pressed them to bare their breasts for Koko to help bond with the gorilla.

The two said foundation President Francine Patterson would interpret hand movements by Koko as a demand to see human nipples. They declined and were later fired in an act of retaliation for not indulging what the lawsuit called Koko's "nipple fetish."

The lawyer for the foundation said the two were fired for different reasons and that a county court earlier this year dismissed their sexual harassment and wrongful termination charges.

Attorney Todd Roberts said the foundation agreed to settle the lawsuit to get on with its work. Terms of the settlement were confidential, he added.

"We denied all of the allegations in the complaint and continue to deny the allegations," Roberts said.

Stephen Sommers, a lawyer for the two women, declined to comment on the lawsuit and its settlement.