San Diego

An editorial writer for the San Diego Tribune has sued editor Neil Morgan and the company that owns the paper, the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., charging that she was sexually harassed by her former boss, paid less than male co-workers and passed over for promotion.

Lynne T. Carrier, 45, the only female Tribune editorial writer, filed the suit last week in San Diego Superior Court, claiming that her civil rights were violated because she worked in a locker room-like environment fostered by her former boss, Douglas Joseph Holley.

Holley, the ex-editor of the editorial page, who also is named in the lawsuit, repeatedly made sexually suggestive jokes and comments, the suit said. When Carrier complained, Morgan “berated” her, placed a formal discipline letter in her personnel file and made it known that complaints of sexual discrimination “were unwelcome,” the suit said.

The suit asks for unspecified general and punitive damages.

Neither Morgan, Tribune Deputy Editor Robert Witty nor Holley could be reached Monday for comment. Holley left the Tribune this year for a non-journalism job in Texas.