Street accuses Greene of "full-blown cover up"

Former Mayor John F. Street leveled the strongest charge to date against the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, accusing him Wednesday of conducting a "full-blown cover-up" to keep sexual harassment settlements from the board.

During a 55-minute news conference, Street also said two more women had come forth to complain about Carl R. Greene. That raises to eight the number of women who have accused the now-suspended director of improper behavior, including three who filed formal complaints and reached secret settlements for $648,000.

Street said Greene's cover-up extended over several years and may have involved some PHA managers and outside lawyers. He declined to name them but said some senior staff "may have to go."

"They had to go to great lengths to get around . . . board policy," Street said.

The charges leveled by Street came a day after Greene filed a federal suit in which he accused the five-member board of effectively firing him and denying him due process. Greene, 53, who was hired in 1998, was suspended Aug. 26 while the board investigated the secret handling of sexual-harassment complaints filed since 2004.

The widening inquiry has drawn federal investigators and produced an internal examination of all contracts and consultants.

Aside from the three women who reached settlements, a fourth is in negotiations and four more have approached Street himself. One of the women who recently came forward was a former PHA attorney, according to a person familiar with her situation.

"There are other women who after years of holding this stuff in are saying, 'It happened to me,' " Street said. "If a woman wants to come to talk to us about this, I would be very supportive. In fact, I would encourage it."

Greene's attorney, Clifford E. Haines, called Street's disclosure of yet more women coming forth with complaints "irresponsible and inappropriate."

"I have a great deal of difficulty with John F. Street telling you there are allegations of sexual harassment but their identities are not going to be disclosed," Haines said. "How do you defend against that statement?"

Haines said that the only way Greene could be fired for cause was if the board proved that his behavior caused injury or damage to PHA.

"I'm not suggesting if there are claims of sexual harassment, you simply ignore them," Haines said. "What I am suggesting is, the answer is not going to be Carl Greene is gone."