Cambridge pays $1.4 million to settle sexual harassment case

The city of Cambridge spent $1.4 million in 2020 to settle a sexual harassment case involving a high-ranking member of the police department who created a hostile work environment, city officials confirmed Monday.

Cambridge spokesman Jeremy Warnick confirmed to Boston.com that the $1.4 million settlement was awarded to three police department employees over allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by Sergeant James Crowley.

Warnick said their investigation “confirmed some of the allegations” associated with a Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination case reported in 2018.

Crowley was disciplined for his hostile workplace behavior, which Warnick described as sexual comments, jokes, innuendos “and other offensive statements.”

The Boston Globe It was initially reported Monday that the settlement had been reached with three female officers in the department. Their attorney, Ellen Zucker, confirmed the decision. Globe a report to Boston.com, which included inappropriate text messages Crowley allegedly sent to co-workers.

According to the GlobeCrowley denies sending a photo of his crotch to a chat group in reference to a desire for snacks, writing “gotcha covered,” an alleged incident the newspaper learned of through a public records request.

Crowley acknowledged another text in which he told a female officer they “shouldn’t ignore the moment” they shared when he helped her off a fence after a foot chase, the officer said. Globe reported. He later said he had “saved [her] “Let’s protect the landing gear from certain destruction and future birth.”

Crowley has “firmly” denied the harassment allegations to the Globe, calling them “fake” and “scandalous.”

Crowley remains a member of the department. He previously found himself in the national spotlight when he arrested Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., a black man, at his home in 2009. Former President Barack Obama said the police “acted stupidly to arrest someone when there was already evidence that he was in his home,” but he invited the two men to a “beer summit” at the White House.

The Cambridge Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Cambridge City Council given few details on sexual harassment bylaw

THE Globe According to the report, Cambridge allegedly hid the settlement for years. City councilors were asked to approve the $1.4 million payment in 2020 without many details, but only two of them voted against approving the settlement, the report said. Globe.

“This is $1.4 million of taxpayer money that could have been used for many purposes,” Councilman Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, who voted against the payment, told the newspaper. “The public should have known what this was for, and the council was not informed of the details. The public was not informed of the details. And I still don’t understand why.”

Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang, who was appointed in 2022, said in a statement that the city is committed to ensuring the council “has enough information to make good decisions and exercise appropriate oversight.”

“There is no doubt that tensions exist in cases like this and more generally around the protection of complainants, due process, public transparency, accountability, legal obligations and the deeper work of culture change,” Huang said.

Since the settlement, Cambridge has hired Christine Elow, the police department’s first female commissioner.

“I have been speaking with Commissioner Christine Elow and her leadership team about how we encourage feedback, protect against retaliation, apply due process, ensure accountability, and create a safe and inclusive culture,” Huang said. “I have complete confidence in their leadership and work, and this has been a priority over the past several years.”