Pa. paid $900K in sex misconduct case

HARRISBURG » Pennsylvania is revealing that it paid $900,000 in 2016 to settle a workplace sexual misconduct case, the state’s biggest payout of that type to come to light in recent months.

The money was paid to a woman who accused her boss of molesting, harassing and threatening her while she worked for the Department of Revenue from 2011 to 2013.

The settlement was disclosed by Gov. Tom Wolf’s office in response to questions by The Associated Press about sexual harassment settlements by the executive branch. Wolf’s office is expected to disclose additional settlements discovered in an ongoing review of cases.

Amid a national reckoning over sexual harassment on the job, more than $1.5 million in payouts by Pennsylvania during the last eight years have become public in recent weeks. They include a $250,000 jury award last month in a state trooper’s lawsuit.

The victim of the Revenue Department supervisor told the AP she felt she should have received a bigger settlement because of her long ordeal.

She had originally sought $5 million in a 2014 federal lawsuit accusing Albert Forlizzi, a regional administrator, of molesting her repeatedly, exposing himself at work, demanding sex and threatening retaliation if she reported his behavior.

Forlizzi pleaded no contest to charges of indecent assault and official oppression in 2015. He was sentenced to four years of probation and required to register as a sex offender.

The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual crimes, and the woman, interviewed Monday, said she did not wish to be identified for the report on the settlement with the state.