from www.marinij.com – A federal judge has rejected a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Lucasfilm Ltd. by a former marketing employee who was based in Marin.

The plaintiff, Tabitha Totah [pictured], was a special events coordinator who worked at Big Rock Ranch, a Lucasfilm facility off Lucas Valley Road, according to her complaint. As part of her job, she traveled widely and often overseas to arrange exhibits of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” memorabilia.

In 2008, Lucasfilm received complaints from outside business partners that Totah was behaving unprofessionally and drinking excessively on her trips, according to court documents. When Totah asked one of the business associates whether he had complained about her comportment, the man reported her questioning to Lucasfilm, saying he felt as though Totah was issuing a “veiled threat” to block him from working with the movie company.

Lucasfilm, which said it had warned Totah not to ask associates about their complaints, fired her in March 2009.

Totah sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, sex discrimination, unlawful retaliation and other claims. She said she was subjected to offensive comments by a supervisor and an outside vendor, that she was treated unfairly because she is a woman, and that the company intentionally inflicted emotional distress, among other allegations.

Lucasfilm filed a motion asking a federal judge to reject the claims before the case went to trial next year. The company said Totah disobeyed instructions not to contact the associate who complained about her, and that she threatened his livelihood.

“Totah’s protestations that none of this would have happened if she were a man amount to nothing more than hollow rhetoric, based on speculation and her own subjective, self-serving belief,” wrote Lucasfilm attorney Janine Simerly. “It is abundantly clear that Lucasfilm is well within its rights to terminate any employee who threatens to retaliate against a business partner and is insubordinate — man or woman.”

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted the motion, saying Totah either failed to submit sufficient evidence to back her claims, or failed to raise “triable” issues.

Plaintiff’s attorney Angela Alioto, who won a pregnancy discrimination verdict against Lucasfilm in an unrelated Marin case last summer, said she plans to file a motion to the judge to reconsider and a motion for a new trial.