Bloomberg Talks Defense, But Does Settle Lawsuits

Mayor Bloomberg's statements that baseless lawsuits should be battled don't quite square with his actions.

For the second time in the last week, Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday that he believes that "when somebody alleges something that's not true, fight it and not worry about anything else."

The comment — which comes while his financial news company, Bloomberg LP, is facing a gender discrimination suit — seems to contradict a legal settlement he made in 2000.

Just before running for public office, the mayor settled a 1997 sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him by a senior sales executive at the company. The out-of-court settlement was confidential and the mayor did not admit any wrongdoing. At the time, Mr. Bloomberg was quoted saying: "After a long period of time, I settled because the lawyers believed the suit could drag on for years and disrupt the company's focus."

Last week, when asked about the latest case against Bloomberg LP, Mr. Bloomberg left some wiggle room, saying that it sometimes makes more economic sense to settle.

"My personal opinion is that you should always defend yourself if you did nothing wrong," he said. "Sometimes the economics makes sense because it's just so diverting and so expensive … but when it's a serious allegation I think you should defend yourself."

Bloomberg LP, which has settled a number of cases in the past 10 years, has given no indication that it plans to settle this one.

The three women making the latest accusations are claiming that Mr. Bloomberg and his senior staff created an environment that fostered discrimination. The company has adamantly disputed the allegations —which cover a period after Mr. Bloomberg stepped down as CEO. A spokesman for the mayor, Stuart Loeser, declined to comment yesterday when asked about the mayor's apparent inconsistency.