(FORTUNE Magazine) – The debate over sexual harassment in the American workplace has been thrown into greater turmoil by the record $1 million damages awarded this week to Sabino Gutierrez, a former manager of a California spa bath manufacturing plant who sued his female boss for sexual harassment . . . While Gloria Allred, Mr. Gutierrez's lawyer, greeted the verdict against Maria Martinez . . . as a vindication of the rights of ''all persons, including men, . . . to a workplace free of . . . sexual harassment,'' others claim that the award was out of proportion. Some women's rights activists . . . say the verdict reflects deep-rooted prejudice against powerful women in business positions . . . The director of Cal Spas, the manufacturer named as co-defendant in the case, claims the jury was biased against Ms. Martinez because of her business success. -- From a news report in the Times (of London).