O’Connor Says She Didn’t Leak Story

Mayor Maureen O’Connor, testifying Friday in a civil trial stemming from last year’s City Hall sex scandal, denied that she leaked information to reporters about a secret settlement in a sexual harassment claim negotiated in a case involving then-Planning Director Robert Spaulding and a female planner in his department.

The mayor was called to the witness stand in a federal court trial in which the former planner, Susan Bray, is attempting to win millions of dollars from the city because her settlement was made public.

Contrary to statements made by Bray’s attorney during opening statements Thursday, O’Connor testified, she followed advice from the city attorney’s office when reporters contacted her for comment on the settlement.

The mayor said that she was instructed to say only that it was a $100,000 settlement which involved Spaulding and that the money came from different sources. When questions about the specific sources of money arose, O’Connor said, “I sent them right back to the city attorney’s office because I wasn’t involved in it, I didn’t know.”

The agreement was signed March 1 to settle Bray’s claim of sexual harassment against Spaulding. Although both Bray and the city agree that there was a sexual relationship, Bray says that she was forced to have sex with the head of her department because she feared for her job.

The settlement was structured to avoid informing the City Council. Several officials worked on the plan, which included a lump sum payment of $19,995--just under the $20,000 threshold that requires a vote of the council--and three years of long-term disability payments.