Former New York City Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg allegedly told a female employee to "kill it" when she revealed she was pregnant. The allegation was made in a 1997 lawsuit filed in New York by Sekiko Sakai Garrison, one of Bloomberg's former executives, National Review reported.
Bloomberg was reportedly upset that another pregnant woman would be added to his payroll. "Great! Number 16," he said, an apparent reference to the number of pregnancies among his staff at Bloomberg LP.
In addition to these two accusations surrounding her pregnancy, the lawsuit also said Bloomberg pointed another woman out to Garrison and said, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second."
The lawsuit also detailed allegations of racism. He allegedly referred to Mexican clients as "jumping beans" and told a female employee having issues finding a babysitter that "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building," the Telegraph reported back in 2007.
The lawsuit was settled in 2007, with both parties agreeing not to discuss the matter, although parts of the settlement were leaked to the Associated Press. When Bloomberg first ran for mayor in the early 2000s, his campaign claimed he took a polygraph test where he denied the sexual harassment allegations, although a copy of the results have never been released.
A person familiar with the case said Bloomberg admitted during the case's deposition "that he had said the words 'I'd do her' about Garrison and other women. When asked during the deposition what he thought that expression meant, Bloomberg said it means to have a personal relationship, according to the individual, who is barred from discussing the case and spoke on condition of anonymity," the AP wrote at the time.
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Garrison reportedly had an answering machine tape of a message he left on her home phone. In the message, Bloomberg allegedly said he heard she was upset about the abortion comment adding, "I didn't say it, but if I said it I didn't mean it."
Garrison worked for Bloomberg LP from 1989 until 1995, at which point she left the company. She said she couldn't return after Bloomberg's comments. The company, however, claimed she was fired.
Garrison wanted $15 million from Bloomberg. A settlement was reached but no one knows how much he ended up forking over because of a confidentiality agreement.
Two additional sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against Bloomberg in the late 1990s. One was dismissed and the other was withdrawn. Both of those plaintiffs also have a confidentiality agreement in place.
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