San Mateo County paying $8M to settle sexual harassment lawsuit from ex-SWAT member

San Mateo County has reached an $8 million settlement with a former sheriff’s deputy and SWAT team member who filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a former SWAT team leader and discriminated against by the department for years.

Carryn Barker’s attorneys Zak Franklin and Julianna Zalinski said in a statement Friday that the settlement came before the lawsuit’s September trial date, when a judge was to decide whether Franklin could depose San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus about her possible role in the alleged harassment. A spokesperson for the department said the sheriff had no knowledge of the alleged harassment and wasn’t sheriff at the time it allegedly took place.