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Former Hartford council aide’s sexual harassment lawsuit against city allowed to continue

Hartford City Councilman Thomas "TJ" CLark II, at center, has been accused of sexual harassment and discrimination by a former council aide, was cited in 2013 for inappropriate touching.
Peter Casolino / Special to the Courant
Hartford City Councilman Thomas “TJ” CLark II, at center, has been accused of sexual harassment and discrimination by a former council aide, was cited in 2013 for inappropriate touching.
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A former Hartford city council aide’s sexual harassment lawsuit against the city can move forward, a federal judge ruled this week.

The city had asked U.S. District Court Judge Warren W. Eginton to dismiss the case of former city council aide Kristen Squillante, who claims she was subjected to crass text messages and comments at work in 2016 and 2017, and that a weak sexual harassment policy left her with no recourse but to leave her job.

Eginton denied the city’s motion to dismiss on Tuesday, allowing Squillante to continue arguing that she was a victim of negligence and a “sexually-charged hostile work environment.”

Hartford, represented by attorney Lisa Lazarek, is also defending itself against a federal sexual harassment lawsuit involving City Councilwoman rJo Winch and her aide, Kelly Kirkley-Bey. Kenneth Blue, a supervisor in the Department of Public Works, claims he was sexually harassed by Kirkley-Bey, and in the aftermath, defamed by Winch, who refused to suspend or fire her assistant.

After several sexual harassment allegations surfaced against Hartford police officers in February, the city acknowledged it needed to overhaul its policies, training and investigations of inappropriate behavior.

While the city works to implement a new, citywide complaint procedure, it’s using a third party to help investigate all allegations of workplace harassment.

Squillante first accused Councilman Thomas “TJ” Clarke II of impropriety in December 2017, when she filed a complaint with the state’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, alleging that Clarke — then council president — sent her crude messages about her boyfriend and made inappropriate comments about her clothing and body.

Earlier that year, Squillante had resigned from her job as executive assistant to Councilman James Sanchez “because of the constant harassment” from Clarke and council assistant Olga Colon, according to the suit.

She originally sued Clarke, Colon and City Clerk John Bazzano along with the city, but had to drop them as plaintiffs. Only an employer is liable for discrimination on the basis of sex.

Squillante, who is white, also argued that she experienced discrimination because of her race, but Eginton dismissed that complaint.

The court also dismissed a claim the city was negligent in inflicting emotional distress on Squillante. That argument only applies to an employer’s actions in terminating someone, not to the conditions they experienced during the course of their employment.

But Eginton ruled Squillante can make her case that Hartford fostered a “toxic” hostile work environment and was negligent in supervising its employees.

The former aide claims Clarke would sometimes call her “babes,” “darling” and “smart ass,” once texting her, “Have fun on your trip. Don’t slip up and send me any see thru bikini pics.”

She claims Colon would also make remarks about what her work attire, often asking, “Who are you going out with dressed like that,” or “You must have a date tonight.” The lawsuit states Squillante talked to Clarke several times about Colon, but he “did not offer any solutions to remedy the situation nor did he advise Plaintiff Squillante to bring her issues to Human Resources.”

The lawsuit adds human resources had no authority to discipline Colon or Clarke “because the office had no power over the Court of Common Council.”

Squillante’s lawyer, DeVaughn Ward, said he was grateful Eginton was allowing the heart of her case to proceed.

“I think those are the two strongest counts of Ms. Squillante’s complaint,” Ward said. “There wasn’t at the time anybody to report violations to, and there was no way — even if she did report — for the city of Hartford to take action against Mr. Clarke because he was an elected official, and the second-highest ranking official in the city.”

Ward is also representing Blue in his suit against the city. The federal court dismissed the case in February, prompting Blue to file a similar lawsuit in Superior Court in Hartford in May. However, the federal court has since reconsidered the lawsuit, leaving Blue to fight the city on two tracks.

Lazarek, who is defending the city against both Squillante and Blue, declined to comment.

Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.