City Pays $225K to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Last month, the Department of Aging's commissioner Edgar Mendez-Santiago resigned, and now, the city is paying $225,000 to settle a lawsuit from a city employee who accuses Mendez-Santiago of sexual harassment. Apparently former secretary Aurelita Santos accused him of coming onto her: Her lawsuit claimed, "Mendez-Santiago put his hands down the pants of a subordinate female employee in plaintiff's presence," as well as bragged about his "gypsy" blood" and sent her threatening e-mails when she refused him. The lawsuit had been filed in February (Santos resigned in 2007), but the Times reports, "went unnoticed until Mr. Méndez-Santiago’s unexpected resignation, which occurred amid strong opposition to plans to overhaul programs for the elderly... The accusations against Mr. Méndez-Santiago tainted the Bloomberg administration’s near sparkling record of hiring strong administrators; nearly all of the administration’s senior officials have avoided scandal since Mr. Bloomberg took office in 2002." The settlement, which states the city and Mendez-Santiago do not admit to wrongdoing, includes back pay, legal fees, and damages.