Sex Suit Could Be Problem for Bloomberg

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks about his education plan to National Urban League executives during a luncheon Wednesday, July 25, 2007, in St. Louis. Bloomberg, a potential independent presidential candidate, is pushing for performance-based merit pay for teachers in the nation's public schools. The National Urban League conference officially kicks off this evening and runs through Saturday. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) (Jeff Roberson - AP)

During his first mayoral campaign, aides told reporters that Bloomberg had passed a polygraph test in which he had denied the allegations. That year, his campaign refused to release the actual test. Loeser said Friday the mayor's office would not provide The Associated Press with a copy of the original polygraph.

Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP in the early 1980s to provide financial information in a way that had never been available before on Wall Street. According to Garrison's suit, Bloomberg and other male managers at the company made "repeated and unwelcome" sexual comments, overtures and gestures, contributing to an offensive, locker-room culture.

Comments attributed in the suit to Bloomberg include: "I'd f--- that in a second," "I'd like to do that," and "That's a great piece of a--."

Once, according to the suit, Bloomberg pointed out a young female employee and told Garrison, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second."

The suit also accused Bloomberg of referring to Mexican clients as "jumping beans" and saying of another female colleague who was having trouble finding a nanny that "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building."

Some elements of the case were made public at the time. An individual with direct knowledge of the case provided additional details to the AP.

The individual said Bloomberg admitted in a deposition, which never was made public, 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 individual also said Garrison had a tape of Bloomberg leaving a message on her home answering machine, saying he had heard she was upset about the pregnancy and maternity comment and adding: "I didn't say it, but if I said it I didn't mean it."

Garrison sought $15 million in the suit. She is bound by a confidentiality agreement and declined comment to the AP.

Garrison, who worked at Bloomberg LP from 1989 until 1995, left the company, unable to return to work after Bloomberg allegedly made the remarks about her pregnancy, according to her suit. The company contended Garrison was fired.

Besides Garrison's suit, two other suits were filed in the late 1990s that accused the company of sexual harassment; one was dismissed and the other was withdrawn. The people involved in those suits also are bound by confidentiality agreements.

Bloomberg is often praised for his straight-talking, no-nonsense style. Since he took office in 2002, his language in public settings has sometimes risen to a level that some may find blunt, but rarely offensive.