‘Hot tub’ comments land public defender in hot water
SCHENECTADY — Longtime Schenectady County Public Defender Stephen Signore was recently ordered to take additional sexual harassment and supervisory training classes for statements he made about “a hot tub in the office,” that the county attorney’s office determined violated the county’s sexual harassment prevention policy.
The investigation was conducted by County Attorney Chris Gardner’s Office in response to a complaint filed in February by a female employee who at the time worked for Signore. The Daily Gazette first reported on the case.
“We take all complaints of sexual harassment seriously, we thoroughly investigated this particular complaint, we found one of the items brought to our attention violated the sexual harassment policy ...” Gardner said, adding that County Manager Rory Fluman determined that a written warning and additional training was the appropriate discipline “to make sure this never happens again.” “It was just a statement, there was no sexual overtures, there was no touching at all.”
Gardner said the county would not make public the woman’s complaint because it is subject to attorney-client privilege and also “would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
Fluman’s letter detailing the punishment is dated May 23. He did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment. Gardner said he would not comment on the entirety of Signore’s alleged comments made to the female employee.
The county is working on putting together the training sessions Signore will have to take, Gardner said Wednesday.
Signore, a former Democratic Rotterdam Town Board member, did not return a message to his cellphone Wednesday seeking comment.
Signore has more than 30 years employment with the county. He has served as public defender from May 2015 and before that was the conflict defender.
The woman who filed the complaint, who the Times Union is not naming, no longer works for the county. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday.