Employee Who Says He Was Sexually Harassed Takes Hartford, Councilwoman And Aide To Federal Court

A rancorous dispute between two municipal employees, alleging sexual harassment, verbal abuse and a refusal from the city council to address it, has spilled into federal court.

Kenneth Blue, a supervisor for Hartford’s Department of Public Works, has sued the city, a councilwoman and her aide, alleging the aide sexually harassed him and was never disciplined — despite the city’s chief attorney recommending she be fired for “egregious” conduct.

Blue said the aide, Kelly Kirkley-Bey, approached him after an evening function at city hall last February and tried to kiss him and place his hands on her body, before smacking him across the buttocks. Kirkley-Bey denied touching Blue or acting inappropriately, but an outside attorney, hired by the city to investigate, found her testimony “less than credible.”

Kirkley-Bey’s attorney, John Kennelly, said she denies all allegations listed in a sprawling, 190-paragraph complaint Blue filed in federal court last month.

Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-hartford-sexual-harassment-suit-20180718-story.html