Report accuses Irondequoit town supervisor of sexually harassing employee
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — An investigation report from a law firm claims that Irondequoit Town Supervisor Andrae Evans made multiple sexual comments to a female employee of the town last year.
News10NBC has obtained a redacted copy of the report from law firm Nearpass & Koegel PLLC, which says Evans violated the town’s policy on sexual harassment by making the comments.
For the full report, see below:
The report claims it all started with comments from Evans comparing the employee to his wife, such as a text that read “teaming with you is the best decision I have made in a long time, besides marrying my wife.”
The report claims that Evans went on to make sexualized comments from mid-March to late May. According to the report, while Evans was in his office, he commented that his wife had thought the employee had “nice legs”. The employee had met Evans’ wife at the Monroe County Executive Ball back in March. The employee claimed in the report that Evans repeated the comment three or four times that day at work, making her feel uncomfortable. Evans denied the comment, according to the report.
The report says, around the same time, Evans commented on the outfits the employee wore, calling one of them a “little schoolgirl uniform” three or four times. The report also accuses Evans of making a sexual comment after asking the employee if she would go to the gym after work. The report says that, when the employee told him that she was exhausted and would probably just sit by the pool, Evans had said “don’t tempt me”, which the employee took as a reference to seeing her in a bathing suit.
The employee said that, after the “don’t tempt me” comment and others, she began seeking advice from her peers about how to handle the situation.
“That was the moment where I was like, that was very direct. I did not like how I felt in that moment,” the employee said.
The report says that later, in June, the employee was preparing for a town board meeting and was getting frustrated with resolutions that hadn’t been prepared. According to the report, when the employee told Evans about her frustration, he responded, “you’re really cute when you’re mad. The vein in your neck grows like three sizes.”
Two months later, according to the report, Evans called the employee into her office to gossip about a department head who was supposedly having an affair with his assistant. According to the report, Evans said “I wonder if that’s why people think we’re boinking”.
The employee resigned in September.
News10NBC was sent statements on the investigation from Irondequoit Town Board members and the Deputy Town Supervisor.