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According to the Times, the letter is "the latest in a string of harassment and discrimination complaints against Greene, several of which have been settled out of court."

GRAMMY BOSS UNDER FIRE
FROM L.A. TIMES…AGAIN

Chuck Philips Reports NARAS Looking Into Sexual Harassment Charges
Maybe this time L.A. Times reporter Chuck Philips has his smoking gun in his longstanding investigation of NARAS boss Michael Greene.

The Grammy organization is investigating an accusation that Greene assaulted a human resources executive originally hired because of similar allegations against him in the past.

Greene has been a continuous target of the L.A.Times journalist, who received a 1999 Pulitzer Prize for reporting about alleged financial discrepancies by Greene in connection with the organization's MusiCares Foundation, the amount of money designated to music-related charities and his own exorbitant $1.5 million salary. The timing of Philips’ latest story is intriguing, considering the Latin Grammys had been scheduled for tonight until this morning's terrorist attacks forced the event's postponement.

These latest charges could be the most damaging yet, as attorneys for Grammy employee Jill Marie Geimer, including noted L.A. lawyer Gloria Allred, accuse the Grammy boss of sexual harassment and battery in a July 25 letter to NARAS. According to the Times, the letter is "the latest in a string of harassment and discrimination complaints against Greene, several of which have been settled out of court."

Geimer was hired last year to run the organization's human resources department to monitor just such harassment complaints.

Greene's representatives denied the charges and insisted he never had any sexual contact or romantic relationship with Geimer, who has been on a medical disability leave for stress and depression since July. The attorneys claim Geimer grew resentful when she was overlooked for a raise or promotion to Vice President, and even showed the Times various e-mails she sent praising Greene at the time the alleged attacks occurred.

Geimer's nine-page, single-spaced letter recounts a yearlong pattern of alleged physical and emotional abuse, including violent outbursts and sexual harassment. At a hearing held by the academy's executive committee board in San Francisco over Labor Day, a six-figure settlement was offered to try to prevent Geimer from filing the suit, but was rejected.

Academy attorneys claim Geimer was "a problem employee who told co-workers she would retaliate against Greene if he refused to raise her salary and status within NARAS." She also claimed Greene originally hired her to "facilitate having a personal relationship with her." The letter went on to outline several instances where Greene threatened her physically and sexually.

Geimer is not the first executive to claim Greene had harassed her. N.Y. Mayor Rudy Giuliani banned the Grammys from New York City in 1998 after Greene allegedly threatened one of the mayor's female deputies. According to the Times, the Academy also paid a settlement to resolve a harassment and discrimination complaint filed with the Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing against Greene by a female employee in 1993. Several other female staff employees who threatened to file charges against Greene were dissuaded from doing so by being offered several months' salary if they left quietly. Greene has repeatedly denied that any employees were harassed or received severance packages.

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