A woman is entitled to a seven-figure damage award for severe emotional distress she endured from being sexually harassed and belittled by a male colleague while both worked for Playboy's cable television network, her attorney told a jury Monday.

Lawyer Mark J. Valencia, who represents former Playboy Entertainment Group Inc. master control operator Julie Crouch, said his client tried and failed to get help concerning her problems with Charles Dorn from their joint supervisor, Chere Johnson, who she also sued.

As a result of her experience at Playboy, Couch suffers from post- traumatic stress disorder, Valencia said in closing arguments of the trial of her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, which went to the jury this afternoon.

But Jason Mills, an attorney for Playboy, said her entire story is a "revision of history.'' He said her case is about a woman who wants to "get some money and extract a little vengeance. Ms. Crouch is not entitled to anything for this lawsuit.''

He said she came forward with many of her complaints 10 months after she was laid off in March 2008, when her unit of Playboy was bought out by Broadcast Facilities Inc., which has since been renamed Encompass Digital Media Inc.

Crouch, a married mother of four, joined Playboy in September 2002. Her job was to monitor the Playboy cable channels to make sure blackouts did not occur during broadcasts.

Crouch and Johnson knew each other from a previous job, and Johnson supervised her and Dorn for a while before moving up in management at Playboy, Valencia said.

Dorn frequently used the "F'' word if he was mad about something and his attitude toward Crouch took a dramatic turn for the worse in late 2003, when she received an employee recognition award that he had been given the year before and thought he was entitled to again, according to Valencia.

When Crouch returned to the control room, Dorn was throwing things around and kicking trash cans, all the while repeating the "F'' word, Valencia said.

After almost a year of alleged harassment, Crouch wrote a letter to Johnson in September 2004, airing her grievances concerning Dorn, Valencia said. Among her complaints were that Dorn insisted men were superior to women; that Dorn had called her an epithet in German; and that he berated her so aggressively once that she was inadvertently spit on.

Although an internal investigation into Crouch's complaints brought an apology from Dorn, he later began harassing her again, using such terms as "slut,'' "whore'' and "prostitute,'' Valencia said.

Crouch, who had complications from breast implants and also underwent back surgery, was chastised by Dorn for her leaves of absence, Valencia said. Dorn sarcastically asked her when she was going on her next vacation, according to the attorney.

Valencia said his client returned to work early after one of her leaves of absence even though she still had severe back pain. Johnson belittled Crouch, saying, "You remind me of last Halloween when you came dressed as an old lady,'' according to Valencia.

Crouch's experience at Playboy has "taken a toll'' on her 14-year marriage, Valencia said.

In addition to Johnson and some of the other supervisors at Playboy -- who he said were aware of Dorn's alleged misconduct -- Valencia also chastised Brenda Villa, a top human resources official at the company. He said Villa's investigation into Dorn's conduct found it was inappropriate, but did not amount to harassment.

"Brenda Villa completely failed because the harassment continued,'' Valencia said. "She was supposed to prevent these incidents and nothing happened.''

Villa testified Dorn was reprimanded even though Crouch did not want him to be warned or fired. She also said Crouch was given all the time off she requested for medical leave.

Mills told jurors that Valencia's criticisms of Villa were "really outrageous'' and that Playboy "is serious about prohibiting harassment.'' He also said Dorn's use of foul language did not amount to "unlawful conduct.''

Valencia played clips of Dorn's testimony to the jury, in which the defendant denied any wrongdoing and said Playboy had not disciplined him for his alleged mistreatment of Crouch.