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Topeka — A third woman this time a 31-year employee of the Kansas Department of Human Resources said Monday that she was the target of retaliation and sexual discrimination from top agency officials.

Linda Weaver of Topeka described a work atmosphere were she was harassed and falsely accused after she complained she was not paid equal to men in similar jobs.

"I didn't want to do this at all," Weaver said of the 11-page complaint she filed with the Kansas Human Rights Commission.

But Weaver said she had to take action after top officials at the agency tried to run her off the job. "I have to defend myself," she said.

Officials with KDHR, the agency charged with overseeing numerous programs for employers and employees across Kansas, denied Weaver's accusations.

Weaver is director of planning and policy development at KDHR. Her allegations are similar to those made by two former employees at the agency.

Jill Crumpacker, former director of the employment and training division, has filed a federal lawsuit in which she alleged that she was subjected to sexual discrimination and was fired in 1998 after blowing the whistle when an agency computer was used to access pornography from the Internet.

Her replacement, Heather Whitley, left the job last August. Whitley claimed top officials retaliated against her after she complained about unequal pay for women and other acts of discrimination.

KDHR Secretary Richard Beyer denied the allegations made by the three women, but declined to say much more.

"All of the accusations are very much against our core values," Beyer said, adding he felt "morally and ethically constrained" from addressing the accusations "until we sit before a judge."

In Weaver's complaint, she said Beyer, his deputy Roger Aeschliman and the agency's chief legal counsel, A.J. Kotich, "conspired to charge me with sexual misconduct."

The charge, however, disappeared when the employee alleged to have made the charge "refused to cooperate," with the administration, Weaver said.

The charge and other acts of discrimination followed attempts by Weaver, she said, to be paid at the same rate as men who had similar type responsibilities.

"The excuse I was given for my pay range continuing to be lower than similarly situated males was that I did not have as many staff. In reality, I was deprived of staff, in an attempt to make my job more difficult and was expected to accomplish an even-wider range of responsibilities than my male counterparts," she said.

She said at one point, a male supervisor told her that unlike male colleagues Weaver didn't need any clerks because "all my staff were women."

Weaver also accused Aeschliman of eliminating her entire unit "as an act of retaliation against me for complaining about pay disparity."

And, she said, Whitley suffered retaliation when she had moved Weaver back into a position of authority.

In an interview with the Journal-World, Weaver said she has worked through good times and bad during her 31 years at the agency.

But she blamed Gov. Bill Graves, who took office in 1995, as having the "worst administration I've ever seen."

"These are the governor's people," she said of those named in her complaint.

The Graves administration has been rocked by gender-based discrimination charges at several agencies in recent years.

Recently, Graves said he trusted the system to resolve any complaints in this area.