Los Angeles ? In a settlement announced this week, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to a former security guard at Los Angeles International Airport who alleged that the congressman assaulted her at a security checkpoint in 2000.

Kennedy, the son of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., will personally pay part of the settlement to Della Patton of Los Angeles. His insurance company will pay the remainder.

Patton filed suit in Torrance, Calif., Superior Court, claiming that Kennedy “intentionally battered” her “with his hands and body” on March 26, 2000, in an attempt to force his way past her at a Terminal 7 security checkpoint at Los Angeles International.

The incident, captured on tape, started when Kennedy tried to put oversized luggage through an X-ray machine, said Patton’s attorney, George Mallory. Patton informed him that he would have to check his bag.

Kennedy pulled out his wallet and showed Patton his identification. When she refused to let him pass, Kennedy “shoved her and she struck the magnetometer,” Mallory said.