ALBANY — The state paid out at least $5 million to settle sexual harassment cases from 2008 to 2010, according to newly released records provided by the New York attorney general’s office under the Freedom of Information Law.
Five of the 11 cases involved a single
agency, the State Department of Corrections and Community Services, and
three involved employees of public universities. The largest settlement,
nearly $1.8 million, came in January 2009 after the state settled a
nearly nine-year-old case involving allegations brought by Lisa
Borrello, a cook at the Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional
Facility. Ms. Borrello alleged that a supervisor sexually harassed and
physically threatened her, and gave favorable treatment to male
employees.
Scrutiny of the state’s handling of
sexual harassment allegations against public officials and workers has
increased since the Assembly acknowledged it had used more than $100,000
in public money to settle two accusations against a prominent Brooklyn
Democratic assemblyman, Vito J. Lopez.
The attorney general’s office said the
records it produced this week, all reflecting cases from the years when
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, was attorney general, represented only
a portion of the harassment settlements paid by the state; the office
said it was continuing to review its files for other records.
The Lopez settlement has been
controversial in part because it included confidentiality language
intended to keep the allegations secret. None of the settlements for
which records were released this week included confidentiality
provisions, suggesting that the use of such language is not common in
government settlements, although the state previously released documents
indicating that in one racial bias case, Mr. Cuomo’s office had
approved a settlement with confidentiality language.
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