L.I. Mayor, Judge Embroiled In Battle Over Sexual Harassment Allegations
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The mayor of one of Long Island's busiest and most populated villages said his character has been defamed and his reputation ruined by slander from a local judge.
Justice Tanya-Hobson Williams and Mayor Wayne J. Hall, Sr. were both elected to serve the Village of Hempstead. But now both are embroiled in a bitter battle over allegations of sexual harassment.
"When I rejected his advances and declined his sexual invitations, he made my job a living nightmare," Williams told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera on Friday.
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"This is not workplace harassment. I am not the judge's boss. She is an elected official like I am, and the main thing is I did not do this," Hall, Sr. told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan.
Williams maintained she was the victim of sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination and is seeking $5 million.
In court documents, she claims Mayor Hall told her to meet him in a hotel in Brooklyn, where no one would recognize them and to wear something sexy.
Judge Williams said when her answer was no, Mayor Hall retaliated by dropping her from his Democratic Party line re-election ticket.
She said the alleged misconduct took place in 2008 and 2009.
"Why would it take two years or four years to come out and now, all of a sudden, decide I sexually harassed her?" Hall said.
In fact, the mayor said the judge is the one retaliating after he filed a judicial misconduct complaint against her for allegedly trying to preside over a court case she was personally involved in, the installation of a court area vending machine owned by her family member for profit and demands of a 24-hour police detail.
Each is asking the other to resign. The elections are in March. The mayor said he is staying put and wonders how the judge can rule over a court in a village that she is suing.
Judge Williams was elected to the $61,000-a-year part-time-position in 2009. She intends to run for re-election in March.
