The developer of Orpheum Apartments in Dover says he was “shocked and appalled” when he heard construction crews on site were cat calling at female passers-by.
The developer of Orpheum Apartments in Dover says he was “shocked and appalled” when he heard construction crews on site were cat calling at female passers-by.
DOVER — The owner of a Boston-based construction firm has notified all subcontractors working on the Orpheum Apartments site in the city’s downtown that catcalling at women must stop.
Cathartes principal Jeff Johnston said on Thursday that as soon he learned about the inappropriate behavior he immediately let workers know that if they continued the comments and whistles they would be dismissed.
“This is not consistent with our corporate values and that is why we took it seriously and responded how we did,” Johnston said.
Cathartes was the developer for Portswalk Place in Portsmouth and was chosen last year to be the waterfront developer in Dover.
The catcalling came to light last week when a woman posted online that it had to stop. As soon as Mayor Karen Weston saw that post, she contacted City Manager Michael Joyal to tell him about what the woman and others were saying.
“You don’t want to walk around your city and not feel safe,” Weston said.
City officials reached out to Johnston.
Weston said other developers working on projects in the city reached out to them to let them know they also had spoken to their crews.
Weston said in today’s age, developers who want multi-million projects know that to be competitive their crews must behave on site.
“Their business could be affected by those folks,” Weston said.
Joyal says he has never had any complaints about catcalls in the past and the city takes the matter seriously.
Lt. Brant Dolleman at the Dover Police Department said they have not received any formal complaints about construction workers at the Orpheum site harassing women but if anyone in the city feels unsafe for any reason they should call police at 603-742-4646.
