A Fly in the Getty Punch Bowl

A case of overexposure . . . Jerry Rubin vs. the former People’s Republic of Santa Monica . . . Hollywood and the thin blue line.

The curator of drawings at the Getty Museum has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and sex discrimination--a potentially embarrassing fly in the museum’s grand opening punch bowl.

Among the allegations in Nicholas J.L. Turner’s workplace discrimination suit: Some of the museum’s expensive artworks that were purchased by a predecessor could be fakes.

Getty spokeswoman Lori Starr said the museum does not comment on personnel matters or litigation. She also said she could not comment on Turner’s claim that some of the artworks might not be genuine.

Turner is a married man in his 50s who says he had an affair with a subordinate, according to his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit. But in a twist on most sexual harassment cases, Turner is claiming that the employee threatened to destroy him after he broke off their six-month liaison. She could not be reached for comment.

“This case illustrates that sexual harassment is really about abuse of power that can come from a supervisor or a subordinate,” said attorney Peggy Garrity, who filed the lawsuit.

Turner contends in his suit that his female supervisors--associate museum director Deborah Gribbon and personnel director Kris Kelly--ignored his complaints and ordered him to give his former lover favorable performance reviews.

He further complains that his reputation in the art world was damaged because he was unable to tend to his scholarly pursuits, had his budget slashed, and lost some of his gallery space to the paintings department after the sex scandal. Turner, who says he was recruited in 1994 from the British Museum in London, is seeking $5 million in damages.

‘60s FLASHBACK, ‘90s LAW: Activist Jerry Rubin--not to be confused with the late Jerry Rubin of Chicago Seven fame--is suing the city of Santa Monica over his right to solicit small donations for his environmental, peace and no-nukes causes on the Third Street Promenade.

Rubin, a familiar sight to strollers at the Promenade and on the Venice Boardwalk, is seeking a preliminary injunction in Santa Monica Superior Court to block a new city ordinance requiring permits for street performers, vendors and anyone who accepts donations of more than $2. In an accompanying lawsuit, Rubin claims that the ordinance is unconstitutional and violates his guarantee of free speech.

Rubin, whose organization stages annual Earth Day events, anti-nuclear rallies and a twice yearly John Lennon remembrance, has been cited twice by undercover police in the past six months, said his lawyer, Carol Sobel. Sobel added that she expects the case to establish a legal precedent resolving the conflict between free speech and solicitation ordinances.

“We’re trying not to tax political speech out of existence in Santa Monica,” she said. The city has agreed not to enforce the new ordinance until a Dec. 22 hearing on Rubin’s injunction request, she added.

City attorney Marsha Mutrie could not be reached Friday. A tape-recorded message said her office was closed on alternate Fridays under the city’s “commuter reduction program.”

Rubin is not related to the late Chicago Seven activist who was struck and killed by a car three years ago while jaywalking on Wilshire Boulevard.

THE X-RATED FILES: The hugely overexposed Tommy and Pamela Anderson Lee have settled their lawsuit against a Seattle cybersex entrepreneur who posted a pilfered videotape of their honeymoon romps on the Internet.

Details of the settlement were confidential. Suffice it to say the sexcapades of the tattooed Motley Crue rocker and his ex-”Baywatch” bride can be found at World Wide Web sites with names that leave little to the imagination.

For those who don’t consider celebrity sex a spectator sport, there’s still the transcript of a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing at which the couple unsuccessfully sought an injunction to keep their private moments off the Net.

Stephen T. Owens, attorney for Internet Entertainment Group, which has made a multimillionaire out of its 24-year-old founder, Seth Warshasky, argued to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe that the Lees had waived their right to privacy by talking about it in detail on radio rude-boy Howard Stern’s show.

OWENS: “And they discussed at length the . . . activities on the videotape, the fact that they were having sex in the car. They were driving down Highway 15 and almost got in traffic accidents, that he almost lost control of the boat when they were having sex. . . . “

JUDGE: “Land, sea and air. I get the point.”

The Lee’s lawyer, Lucy Inman, would not comment on whether the settlement included a financial arrangement. The couple discovered sometime in January 1996 that the tape was missing from a safe inside the garage of their Malibu home, which was undergoing extensive renovations. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

“Our clients did not steal it,” Owens said in an interview. “Our clients purchased a copy of the tape from a producer in Hollywood. I’ve heard from many sources that copies have been circulating in Los Angeles for purchase.”

Too bad the case was settled, because lawyers were preparing to take sworn statements from the Lees; Tommy Lee’s ex, Heather Locklear; Pamela Lee’s former co-star David Hasselhoff; Oprah Winfrey; and Stern. Now, that’s entertainment.

LIKE A VIRGIN: It began with a rather ungentlemanly claim by a fellow who whispered to the writer of an unauthorized biography that he had slept with Priscilla Presley long before the world knew her as Elvis’ virgin bride.

Now, a legal battle is widening, with Presley and a production company suing each other in Los Angeles Superior Court over a scotched deal for the TV movie version.

Presley claims in her suit that Robert Burge and former network entertainment head Bud Grant and their production company, Third Coast Entertainment, misled people into thinking she was cooperating with their “Child Bride” movie project. Also named as a defendant is well-known publicist Lee Solters.

Presley is seeking an injunction and $2 million in damages, claiming they had violated her right to control her own image and publicity.

Now, Third Coast has countersued Presley for $30 million, claiming she and Singer, whose client list includes several top stars, used their clout at the William Morris Agency to kill the project.

Attorney Edwin F. McPherson alleges in the suit that William Morris dropped the project the day after a deposition at which Presley’s lawyers learned the agency was representing Third Coast in the project. “The timing of it was too uncanny” to be a coincidence, McPherson said. “It’s getting nasty. It’s become a war.”

No immediate comment from Singer’s office.

But McPherson said his client sincerely offered Presley a consultant’s role, and had even agreed to keep the dispute over the status of her virtue on her wedding day out of the story.

TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME: A Los Angeles police officer who claims he was injured while trying to arrest actor Christian Slater during his alleged August biting escapade, has sued the actor for unspecified damages.

Officer Julio Flores claims in his suit filed in Santa Monica Superior Court that he was among several LAPD officers who responded to a 911 call about a fight after a party at a tony Westwood high-rise, L’Elysee.

When he tried to detain Slater, Flores contends, the actor “battered [him] in a brutal and unprovoked manner” and caused him “to incur and sustain severe injuries.” The suit did not elaborate on those injuries, but Flores claims he spent time in the hospital after going mano a mano with the star of “Interview With the Vampire” and other films. He also says his injuries left him temporarily unable to work and caused him emotional distress.

Slater faces a court date this week on misdemeanor charges for allegedly battering his former girlfriend, being under the influence, resisting arrest, biting the party host and attacking a building employee.

The officer required surgery and was off work for a month, then placed on restricted duty, said his lawyer, James Armstrong. Slater’s publicist, Seth Rosenfield, had no comment.