You wanted to know the number of sexual harassment cases the state has settled and the total amount of money involved.

We contacted the Office of the Claims Commissioner, the Judicial Department, and the Office of the Attorney General to answer your question. The attorney general's office was the only place we found some information, albeit limited. That office had easily retrievable statistics for the past two years, which coincides with the number of years the office's Employment Rights Unit has been in existence.

According to unit head Margaret Chapel, the state settled nine sexual harassment cases for a total of $ 566,996 between January 1, 2001 and December 18, 2002. Of these cases, six were settled after a complaint was filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. The remaining three were settled while they were pending in federal court. While Chapel believes that these statistic represent most, if not all, the cases of this type that the state has settled, she states that it is possible that one or two others were handled by other units in her office. We will let you know if she verifies this possibility.

SN-E: eh