A federal judge has dismissed a sexual harassment and workplace bias case filed by a city public works supervisor and union leader against council members Thomas J. Clarke II and rJo Winch, Winch’s aide Kelly Kirkley-Bey and the city of Hartford.
Senior U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. did not rule on the merits of Kenneth Blue’s complaint. Instead, he ruled on technical deficiencies in his complaint.
Blue’s lawyer, DeVaughn Ward, said Wednesday night that he will file a motion asking Haight to reconsider his ruling. Failing that, Ward said he’ll likely appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ward also has the option of taking the case to state Superior Court.
Blue alleges Kirkley-Bey sexually harassed him and was never disciplined — despite the city’s chief attorney recommending she be fired for “egregious” conduct. Blue, who is African-American, alleges that the city retaliated against him because he made a federal equal-opportunities complaint.
Blue said 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.”
John Kennelly, Kirkley-Bey’s lawyer, said at the time that she denies all the allegations. But as is the custom in an early motion to dismiss, the lawyers for the defendants focused on technical errors in the pleading, not the substance of the allegations.
“It’s a convoluted narrative,” Kennelly said after the case was filed in June 2018, “which is difficult to follow and which makes it impossible for me to dispute the allegations in court.”
The city also argued that Blue did not exhaust his remedies with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Haight dismissed Blue’s claims “with prejudice,” meaning Blue can’t bring them back to federal court — a position Ward is hoping the judge will reconsider.
Josh Kovner can be reached at jkovner@courant.com.
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