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Topeka — Four women who worked at the Kansas Lottery were, in fact, wearing bras on their heads when they had their picture taken with the lottery's former director in 1999, the current director told a pair of legislative committees Wednesday.

And, he said, the women whose pictures appeared in an in-house Web site made to look like an advertisement for telephone sex were all willing participants.

Lottery director Ed Van Petten, who came on the job in May, assured legislators that the Web site was done "in the spirit of fun" and that the bras-on-the-head picture was "simply a joke, there was no harassment."

Nonetheless, he said, he's taken steps to make sure nothing like that happens again. Both incidents occurred before he joined the lottery.

Van Petten's assurances didn't sit well with Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth.

"I was appalled," she said. "I was offended by his being so glib about the whole thing. When you've got women in the office wearing bras on their heads, that's not a joke. There's nothing funny going on."

Van Petten's comments also prompted a stern warning from Alan Rupe, a Wichita attorney known for his employment-law expertise.

"If he's saying it was good clean fun and there really wasn't anything wrong with it, then he needs to know that doesn't square with the state's anti-harassment policies," Rupe said.

Action taken

In his testimony, Van Petten called the incidents "totally inappropriate" and assured legislators that lottery workers now know they'll be fired or disciplined if such behavior occurs.

Van Petten said "personnel actions were taken" against the workers involved in creating the telephone-sex page. He declined to be more specific. The page, he said, was created about four years ago.

Van Petten also told legislators that computer system weaknesses that may have allowed a former employee to steal nearly $63,000 have been addressed.

"Even though the malicious tampering is always a threat and a possibility, at this time it would be detected in a very short period of time," he said.

Van Petten testified that employees must now submit memos before accessing the "instant-win" system. In addition, he said, the system now monitors who uses it and when.

At the close of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee hearing, Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, praised Van Petten's performance.

"I feel much better today after receiving your report," Vratil said.

Gag order questions

Van Petten is expected to appear today before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.

In the House committee Wednesday, lawmakers continued to fret about interpretation of a judge's gag order.

Rep. Rick Rehorn, D-Kansas City, urged fellow Democrats to not ask questions during the hearing. Rehorn is the ranking Democrat on the committee.

The concern stems from a gag order issued in October by Shawnee County District Judge Thomas Conklin. The order gagged all participants in the case of Richard Lee Knowlton, the former lottery employee accused of stealing from the agency.

Rehorn said Wednesday that Conklin's order was worded so broadly that it could apply to legislators and their staff. He suggested delaying the House committee's hearings on the lottery until the order could be clarified in writing.

The lottery is scheduled to end July 1, 2002, if the Legislature doesn't reauthorize it. Gov. Bill Graves and others say the Legislature needs to make a decision this year, giving the lottery a year to phase out, if it is allowed to lapse.

The agency contributes about $60 million each year to education, prison, juvenile justice and economic development programs.

Legislators are concerned about the integrity of lottery games because of alleged ticket fixing by the former employee, and allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse at lottery offices.

Lawmakers also want to review the lottery's relationship with GTECH, a West Greenwich, R.I., company that has a contract worth $7 million a year to run the lottery's computerized games.