Over the last couple of weeks, numerous people have contacted me regarding sexual harassment allegations against the City of Hartford's MHIS Director Eric Jackson. Apparently several female employees have now filed actual complaints with the Office of the Corporation Counsel alleging sexual harassment by Jackson.
These allegations are said to include improper behavior by Jackson both in the workplace and outside. The allegations include charges of improper contact and advances towards female employees in the MHIS offices as well as "late night" text messages, phone calls and visits to employees.
Both Union representatives as well as City Hall staff people confirmed that numerous employees have made claims that are being investigated. A representative of the Corporation Counsel's office, Gilberto Cortez, today confirmed the existence of the investigation but would provide no timeline as to the completion. Cortez also refused to provide any further information other than that the investigation exists and is ongoing.
Beside City Hall staff, apparently Board of Education employees assigned to MHIS have also made complaints against Jackson. According to one source, staffers in MHIS have been instructed to "keep a log of any further harassment or any retaliation".
At least two other persons I have spoke with claim to have been victims of Jackson's actions but they are not willing to come forward in fear of retaliation. Jackson is still active in the MHIS office and has not been placed on any type of Administrative suspension while the investigation is conducted.
According to several people who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, the fear of retaliation is clearly obvious in the office. They have also questioned why this has not become a criminal investigation. Some of the allegations being made would clearly fall under criminal statutes.Those that I have spoke with indicated that Jackson's presence in the office is clearly creating a hostile work environment.
Repeated calls to Eric Jackson for comment have been unanswered. Text messages and e-mails to Mayor Segarra have also not been answered
To read about more of Jackson's escapades as a City of Hartford department head, click here
29 comments:
Those ladies better make sure they get heir own lawyers, that have no connections to Hartford, because if they think Corp Council will handle this case properly they are sadly mistaken.
It is rather obvious that Jackson could "monitor" all city emails from every computer, including the Mayor's.As a result, it might will be that the reason that Mayor Segarra treated the allegations from those "several" women as strictly an internal matter and didnt refer those matters to the Hartford Police, because Jackson knows " too much"?
In any event, these matters semingly include Jackson having sexual "contact",showing his "willy" in his city hall office at Constitution Plaza and going to women's homes at night and are serious....these matters much be referred to the police and I hereby request that they be referred to the HPD immediately.
Before we get going on this, please keep the comments to the point and civil. There are several potential victims here and both them and their co-workers probably read the blog. Even if Jackson's actions are proven as true, the victims still deserve to be treated respectfully
Kevin makes a good point, this is an investigation. People have been hurt and there isn't anything funny about this.
I would hope the city creates a climate where victims and any witnesses feel safe to come forward. An example needs to be made here that shows employees there truly is "No Tolerance" boosting morale and confidence in the administration.
Didn't he also crash a couple of City cars?
"I would hope the city creates a climate where victims and any witnesses feel safe"
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Don't hold your breath. Our city leadership is very comfortable with criminal behavior.
The "No Tolerance" refers to the critics of the leadership.
If there is a no tolerance policy how can he still be in the dept where the employees he allegedly harassed are working?
"Even if Jackson's actions are proven as true, the victims still deserve to be treated respectfully"
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Kevin:
Didn't you say a while back you were going to do an in depth blog about this guy? A little too late huh?
"If there is a no tolerance policy how can he still be in the dept"
"No tolerance" is only for the critics of the leadership. All others are welcome. And kevin here is only upset because Mayor didn't make him feel important by responding to his text messages. Otherwise he is behind this leadership all the way.
Anonymous 7:55PM:
I'm not sure I get your comment "A little too late huh"
This story isn't here because I read about it in the Courant and copied it. I got the information, developed and interviewed them and wrote the piece. What more do you want? If I didn't do the leg work it wouldn't be out here now. Maybe you might read the previous comments and then ask the Administration and the Council how this is allowed to continue and why any employee should feel intimidated or threatened by reporting something like this.
Let me know what information you are uncovering and we can have a competition to see who gets it out first.
Anonymous 7:37pm:
He crashed at least one City vehicle that i know of and that was a vehicle he should have never been driving on a weekend going to a private event, nothing city work related. That crash has already cost the city a couple hundred thousand and the civil lawsuit isn't over yet
And as far as the previous comment about the car crash, that posting can be read by clicking on the link at the end of this post. The Connecticut State Police accident report that details Jackson's actions from the time he forced the woman off the road, left the scene of the accident and his eventual return to the crash site are all detailed there
Kevin:
We all appreciate your efforts. I think the anonymous like the rest of is frustrated and feels helpless with all this sort of behavior from our leadership.
Anonymous 8:09pm:
I'm not sure where the sentiment that I am a big supporter of Segarra and his administration. If I was, do you really think negative postings would be here? I do not support most of what this administration has been doing since his first couple of months in office. I am very disappointed in many of the actions taken by Mayor Segarra. I suggest you read back a few months and see how many positive posts about Segarra you can find. Maybe start with the Festival of Light postings and tell me if you think those are flattering to Segarra.
I will be the first to say that I had high hopes for Mayor Segarra when he took over and I thought the only way was up after what we experienced with Perez, and I think you will also find that I have admitted on a few occasions that I was wrong. Not a lot has improved and I think some things have actually become worse.
Do I think Pedro is a bad guy? Absolutely not, but he still has many of the Perez loyalists around him who are undermining him and embarrassing him every opportunity they have. Eric Jackson is a prime example. These allegations were no secret to anyone, just the incident with crashing the city car would have been enough for most employees to be terminated. Lets look at Sarah Barr, another chronic embarrassment, just read the "squirrel and the lights" explanation posted here and tell me if you think she made the Mayor look good. Kevin Burnham and the disaster of the way the city was plowed. Can you imagine him explaining to Segarra that the reason city plow trucks were driving around the city during storms with their plow blades up was to save wear and tear on the trucks? These were all Perez people who are working overtime to shame this Mayor.
Pedro had major potential and goodwill from many people, myself included, when he took over.I no longer have that goodwill, it has turned to sympathy for the opportunity he let slip through his fingers.
I still think Pedro Segarra is a very good person who means well but is making some very bad decisions because he is getting very poor advice.
If you can read and interpret these comments as strong support of Mayor Segarra, my sympathy is also with you for your ignorance
The City of Hartford needs to protect the victims. Why is it that Eric is still in the building? Does he think he will get away Again...Hartford is time to say enough is enough. I feel very sad for victims that they had to deal with such of disturbing behavior. Sickening!
His actions have been known by many people for a long time. And yes he thinks he will get away with it and so do I.
If Chief Roberts doesn't have the cops investigate Jackson it is because Mayor Segarra told Roberts to "lay off" Jackson.However after due time, any citizen can request that the Chief State's Attorney investigate and that is what I will request if the Hartford cops dont investigate Jackson.
It's well known the Chief keeps his job at the leisure of the Mayor. Eddie Perez made that change in the city charter so he could abuse it.
Let's hope Mayor Segarra does not abuse it and gives Chief Roberts free range to let his detectives do their jobs.
Mayor has already forgotten about this..bet you money
Anonymous at 11:06PM said:
"His actions have been known by many people for a long time. And yes he thinks he will get away with it and so do I."
You may very well be right, but how Mayor Segarra handles this now that it is no longer a "dirty little secret " in the back rooms of City Hall but has now been exposed in the light of day will tell us a lot about the leadership, or lack thereof, at City Hall. I would challenge anyone that thinks obvious behavior like this would be tolerated anywhere in the Corporate world. Keeping Jackson in his position of power while the investigation continues is not only wrong but it potentially exposes the City ,and hence us as taxpayers, to huge liability as the claims begin rolling in for allowing this to happen unchecked.
Eric Jackson has been sleeping and trying to since he has been in that position. Mayor wake up? This guy is a disaster waiting to happen.
Eric Jackson has been sleeping trying to sleep with his female emplyee since he has been in that position. Mayor wake up? This guy is a disaster waiting to happen.
This is such a distraction to all involved. I am sure employee productivity is being effected by this, thus costing the city money. If there is as much evidence of misconduct as stated, then why doesn't Eric Jackson do the honorable thing and resign to stop the continued pain and suffering to all involved. Is this an ego thing?
Anonymous at 11:23am:
It is much more than a distraction, it is disgusting. Suffice it to say that I left many specific details out of the posting, details that are much more than simple improper language or contact. There are allegations ,as I said yesterday, that would most likely elevate the alleged behavior to criminal conduct. I hope we hear today that both the Mayor and Police Chief are stepping up and doing what needs to be done. Jackson should at the very least be removed from City Hall and placed on Administrative leave pending the outcome of any investigation.
We will see if Mayor Segarra gets decent advice and does what is right for the decent employees of MHIS or will Jackson be protected.
Kevin...Pedro knew about Jackson for at least 3 weeks.For 3 weeks Pedro permitted these female workers ar MHIS to work in an unsafe work enviornment without lifting a finger to make sure that they were safe.Pedro sacrificed these women,kept the investigation of the 7 sexual abuse complaints quiet, in order to keep " things quiet" for his re-election as Mayor.
The Pedro that I knew years ago would never sacrifice females like this in order to be re-elected...this is disgusting beyond belief.
Why didn't Pedro take Eric's resignation like he did for other department heads when he took office? I understand inocent until proven guilty, but I don't understand why for Eric's sake and the employees sake he wasn't put on leave during the investigation?
In hard times dept head decides who gets layed off. This gives a lot of power to these dept heads. Abusers take advantage of their power. It is up to the Mayor to keep the order. Pedro has made himself into an accomplice after the fact. How can people be treated this way? If people felt safe and were able to report abuse, this would have never happened. Is this what people have to do now to keep their jobs?
Apparently Pedro thinks so. Otherwise he would have condemned it.Pedro is responsible. He is a huge enabler.
Just think , what is next?
Pedro is a disgrace and a joke. He should resign.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?n=eric-l-jackson&pid=148839002&fhid=4097
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