Sex Suit Could Be Problem for Bloomberg
By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press
July 30, 2007
Page 2 of 3
Once, according to the suit, Bloomberg pointed out a young female employee and told Garrison, ''If you looked like that, I would do you in a second.''
The suit also accused Bloomberg of referring to Mexican clients as ''jumping beans'' and saying of another female colleague who was having trouble finding a nanny that ''all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building.''
Some elements of the case were made public at the time. An individual with direct knowledge of the case provided additional details to the AP.
The individual said Bloomberg admitted in a deposition, which never was made public, that he had said the words ''I'd do her'' about Garrison and other women. When asked during the deposition what he thought that expression meant, Bloomberg said it means to have a personal relationship, according to the individual, who is barred from discussing the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The individual also said Garrison had a tape of Bloomberg leaving a message on her home answering machine, saying he had heard she was upset about the pregnancy and maternity comment and adding: ''I didn't say it, but if I said it I didn't mean it.''
Garrison sought $15 million in the suit. She is bound by a confidentiality agreement and declined comment to the AP.
Garrison, who worked at Bloomberg LP from 1989 until 1995, left the company, unable to return to work after Bloomberg allegedly made the remarks about her pregnancy, according to her suit. The company contended Garrison was fired.
Besides Garrison's suit, two other suits were filed in the late 1990s that accused the company of sexual harassment; one was dismissed and the other was withdrawn. The people involved in those suits also are bound by confidentiality agreements.
Bloomberg is often praised for his straight-talking, no-nonsense style. Since he took office in 2002, his language in public settings has sometimes risen to a level that some may find blunt, but rarely offensive.
When asked recently whether New Yorkers should be concerned about a foiled plot to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport, his exasperated response was that people should ''get a life!''
''You can't sit there and worry about everything,'' he said.
His staff and circle of city commissioners praise him endlessly as a boss, but acknowledge that he is often startlingly direct.
''He can be a little gruff,'' Patricia Lancaster, his commissioner for the Buildings Department, said at a recent news conference. She is one of a number of women serving in high-level jobs throughout his administration, including his No. 2 in City Hall, the first Deputy Mayor Patti Harris. Many are part of a close-knit group that has remained fiercely loyal to him for years, following him from his company to various city government jobs.
In private conversations, Bloomberg is less inhibited and is known to tell bawdy jokes, use provocative language and comment on women's appearances.
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