Sex Harassment Claim Against Grammy Chief

The Grammy organization is investigating an accusation that its president, C. Michael Greene, assaulted a female executive whose job was an outgrowth of similar allegations of abusive behavior by Greene.

Attorneys for Grammy executive Jill Marie Geimer accused Greene of sexual harassment and battery in a July 25 letter to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the nonprofit group responsible for staging tonight’s worldwide telecast of the Latin Grammy Awards on CBS-TV.

The letter is the latest in a string of harassment and discrimination complaints against Greene, several of which have been settled out of court. Four years ago, an internal Grammy inquiry absolved Greene of a similar allegation, but the organization required the academy to install a human resources department to monitor any potential harassment cases.

Geimer was hired a year ago by Greene to run that department.

Greene declined to comment for this report. But two academy attorneys, in a lengthy interview Monday, denied that the 52-year-old Grammy president ever assaulted or sexually harassed Geimer. The attorneys also stressed that Greene never had any sexual contact or romantic relationship with her.

Greene’s attorneys portrayed Geimer as an ambitious executive seeking money and a romantic relationship with her boss. The attorneys said Geimer grew resentful when Greene did not give her a raise or a promotion to a vice president position. The attorneys showed The Times excerpts of numerous e-mails from Geimer in which she praised Greene during the period she now says he was attacking her.

“Michael Greene categorically denies all of the allegations raised by Jill Geimer,� said attorney Bert Deixler. “Mike Greene never touched her. Many of these events that she alleges could not have physically taken place. We have sworn statements from Grammy employees corroborating what Mr. Greene says happened. Jill Geimer was going to lose her job, so she fabricated these allegations.�

Geimer, 30, has been on a medical disability leave for stress and depression since July. She declined to comment for this report. She has hired Los Angeles attorneys Gloria Allred and Nathan Goldberg to prepare her claims of physical injuries, emotional distress and medical expenses against Greene and the academy.

“It is very distressing to her to learn that her employer is now resorting to attempts to destroy her reputation,� Allred said. “We think it is highly improper to disseminate inaccurate material, which contains defamatory information, to the media in order to deflect criticism from Michael Greene and the organization.�

The nine-page, single-spaced letter by Geimer’s attorneys recounts a year-long pattern of alleged physical and psychological manipulation by Greene, including violent outbursts and sexual abuse. The allegations were considered so serious that several members of the academy’s executive committee flew to San Francisco on Labor Day to attend a private mediation hearing with Greene and Geimer.

At the hearing, a six-figure settlement was proposed to dissuade Geimer from filing a lawsuit, said two academy sources familiar with the negotiations. The offer was rejected.

Different Accounts of Workplace Events

Attorneys for the academy said Monday that Geimer was a problem employee who told co-workers she would retaliate against Greene if he refused to raise her pay and status in the organization. They said Greene was unaware of any problem concerning Geimer when he nearly doubled her salary last year from $65,000 to $120,000 and substantially expanded her responsibilities within the organization.

Allred said Greene also sent Geimer a memo in March promising her a title promotion to vice president as well as a salary boost to $130,000 and a $20,000 bonus in July. That salary increase and bonus never went into effect.

Geimer joined the academy in August of last year. She has two master’s degrees and a decade of experience in the human resources field, including a stint working in a battered women’s shelter.

According to Geimer’s letter, Greene offered her a job solely to “facilitate having a personal relationship with her.�

Immediately after Geimer began working at the academy, Greene sent her flirtatious e-mails and invited her to dinner and for visits to his multimillion-dollar ranch in Topanga Canyon, the letter says. By late September, the letter says, Geimer was dating Greene several nights a week and quickly became “embroiled in an abusive personal relationship with [Greene] that soon made its way into the office.�

Even though Geimer was hired to monitor the conduct of Greene and other employees at the academy, she “found herself inexplicably drawn to [Greene]� according to the letter.

On Oct. 9, the letter says, Geimer and Greene got into an argument at a Santa Monica restaurant. According to the letter, Geimer left the restaurant but Greene followed her to the parking lot, pinned her against her car, put his hand up her skirt and sexually assaulted her. The letter says Geimer drove home in tears and called a girlfriend to confide what happened.

Three weeks later, Greene allegedly lost his temper with Geimer at the office during a human resources meeting. Greene erupted, the letter says, after Geimer informed him that several of his personal assistants had broken down crying in front of her due to his “violent outbursts, offensive language and abusive demeanor.� Greene responded by grabbing Geimer and dragging her into his office bathroom, where he pinned her against the sink and threatened her job, the letter says.

On June 6, Geimer learned that Greene had previously become romantically involved with other female employees at the company, the letter says. Greene became “violent,� the letter says, after Geimer confronted him about the relationships. One affair ended in a financial settlement after the woman lodged an internal sexual harassment complaint, according to the letter.

The letter says Greene grabbed Geimer, shook her and pushed her into an office chair. He then twisted Geimer’s arm backward until she was crying, the letter says, and made her promise to never speak the former employee’s name again.

Deputy to NYC Mayor Allegedly Threatened

The final altercation, the letter says, came July 13, when Greene allegedly walked into Geimer’s office, closed the door and called her a “slut.� He started screaming at her, twisted her arm and slammed it up against the corner of a file cabinet, the letter says.

Geimer walked out and never returned. She was placed on medical leave July 17.

Shortly after Geimer began questioning Greene’s conduct in the workplace, Greene hired an attorney to conduct an internal investigation of Geimer’s conduct, according to the letter.

Geimer isn’t the first executive to say she had been harassed by Greene. Three years ago, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani banned the Grammys from New York City after Greene allegedly threatened the life of one of the mayor’s female deputies.

“I was shocked by Greene’s abusive behavior,� Giuliani told The Times.

The academy paid a settlement to resolve a harassment and discrimination complaint filed with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing against Greene by a female employee in 1993. Several other female staff members who threatened to file harassment or discrimination complaints against Greene in recent years each were paid a few months’ salary if they promised to leave quietly, according to several Grammy sources familiar with the settlements. Greene has previously denied that any employees were harassed or received severance packages.

In 1997, the board of trustees called for an investigation of allegations that Greene engaged in sexual harassment and financial improprieties. At the time, Greene said the inquiry concluded that all the charges against him were groundless.