There was an interesting story in the Union-Tribune this morning. It had to do with a Park and Recreation Department employee that accused a supervisor of sexual harassment and sexual assault over a three-year period.

She settled her lawsuit against San Diego for $450,000.

But the story left me with more questions than answers.

The 52-year-old Hoa Nguyen was a grounds maintenance supervisor. Her boss, Angel Prado, 53, resigned after the allegations.

I'm having trouble believing a few of Hoa's claims, though. She accused her boss of "sexual harassment, ethnic discrimination and repeated sexual assaults," during a three year period.

Angel, who sounds like he was anything but an angel...said that the two of them had a consensual sexual relationship and denied any wrongdoing.

Both of them were married to other people.

My initial feeling is that he probably did do something wrong, or he wouldn't have resigned from his job.

And I understand you can resign for a variety of reasons. Just like I understand Michael Jackson could've settled with a child accusing him of molestation, for $25 million, for "other reasons." But there are ways people handle things when they have no ounce of guilt. These aren't two of them.

I have a hard time believing her side of how things went down, though. If she was "sexually assaulted," how did this last for a three year period? How about calling the police, and having this guy arrested IMMEDIATELY.

Tell your husband, tell everyone.

This leads me to believe, they probably had a consensual affair.

I think when it ended, the boss probably started harassing her. Which is wrong. But it doesn't mean she can trump up charges on what he actually did, and then get half a million bucks from the city.

Maybe she's stating things the way she did because she wants to save her marriage.

I remember when I worked an overnight shift at the post office, I started seeing a woman that worked there. We walked in the front door once, and she had to go to the locker room. I was going to the machine where I typed addresses for Pacific Beach (fun job). I slapped her butt as she walked away.

One of my supervisors, Gretchen (who is the nicest person and best boss you could have) was standing near us. She smiled.

The next day, my girlfriend and I got into a small fight. And I started thinking about what would happen if we broke up (we ended up being together five years). If she wanted, she could tell our bosses that I sexually harrassed her at the work place. She could claim that Gretchen witnessed this. And Gretchen would tell authorities what she saw.

I wondered if it would matter, telling my bosses that we were in a relationship when I gently slapped her behind. My girlfriend would've been able to say, "No we weren't!"

And what if I couldn't prove otherwise?

So, with the story that appears in the paper, I think some kind of law should be passed. If a couple is choosing to date at the work place...and this could be co-workers, a boss/subordinate relationship, anything. You lose all rights to filing a "sexual harassment" lawsuit against that person at any time. Sure, you could still claim "harassment," if you have an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend that is making things difficult in the work place.

But once you've entered into a sexual relationship with another adult, I think it throws the claim of "sexual harassment" out the window.