Felix G. Arroyo sexual harassment trial begins at last
Lawsuit filed over 6 years ago
More than six years after the lawsuit was originally filed, the trial over sexual harassment claims made by a former city of boston employee against former city health chief Felix g. Arroyo and the city began Wednesday with jury selection.
the long-awaited trial, which is expected to last about two weeks, is set to include testimony from influential members of boston’s political and legal scene, including former mayor Martin J. Walsh and federal Judge Mark L. Wolf.
the case centers around allegations made by Hilani Morales, who worked under Arroyo in the city’s Office of Health and Human Services. She filed the lawsuit with the Suffolk County Superior Court in 2018 accusing Arroyo of harassing her and pressuring her into a sexual relationship while they worked together. Morales claims Arroyo retaliated against her after she ended the relationship, and created a hostile work environment.
Morales also claims the city demoted and transferred her to a different department after she reported the sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. Arroyo, who served two terms on the City Council and ran for mayor in 2013, has denied all accusations of wrongdoing.
then-mayor Walsh fired Arroyo from his Cabinet position in 2017 after a four-week investigation into the allegations. Arroyo in 2020 filed a lawsuit against Walsh, alleging wrongful termination. Arroyo’s father, Felix D. Arroyo, is alsoelection a former boston city councilor, boston School Committee member, and Suffolk registrar of probate. His brother, former city councilor Ricardo Arroyo, lost reelection last fall after several scandals.
Last June, Ricardo Arroyo was required to pay $3,000 for a conflict of interest violation for legally representing his brother in the court case while he was also a sitting city councilor. An attorney for Ricardo Arroyo later said in a statement that Arroyo’s work as a lawyer on his brother’s behalf did not negatively impact the city or its interests.
Ricardo Arroyo is now back on his brother’s legal team, in what a judge in a recent pretrial hearing dryly called a “miraculous return.”
In the complaint, Morales says she was, at the time, in the middle of divorce proceedings that were paused when her husband required chemotherapy treatment. Her complaint alleges Felix g. Arroyo used “his position of power and his awareness of Ms. Morales’ personal turmoil” to pressure her into a sexual relationship in 2016, which was “marked by the extreme imbalance of power between a mid-level staffer and a Cabinet head.”
After Morales ended the relationship in 2017, she alleges, Arroyo continued to sexually harass and threaten her for several months, and on one occasion physically assaulted her.
Arroyo filed a counterclaim with the court, arguing Morales made false and defamatory statements about him, changed her recollection of events, and lied to investigators.