They got what they wanted.
The board of the municipal hospital system has given its president a clean bill of ethical health based on a report it refuses to release.
Three weeks ago, The Post reported that Alan Aviles, president of the Health and Hospitals Corp., was under scrutiny for allegedly not reporting a sexual-harassment claim by two female employees against a former HHC executive last year.
Aviles insisted the women never contacted him — contradicting a letter sent to the board by a former supervisor in the Inspector General’s Office.
“Instead of Aviles taking appropriate measures and alerting the IG, human resources or anyone in authority, he simply told his good friend [the suspected harasser] about the complaint,” the former supervisor alerted the board.
Manhattan law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman was retained at about $265 an hour to look into the matter. The lawyers, in turn, hired Guidepost Solutions, an international investigative agency, to find out what happened. The number of hours billed wasn’t immediately available.
“The investigation concluded that no such meeting occurred [between the women and Aviles],” the board reported on Nov. 29.
“The investigation further concludes that the employees in question complained directly to the IG, and that Mr. Aviles fully supported and cooperated with the IG investigation once the IG informed him that it was underway.”
Nothing happened to the accused harasser.
“The executive resigned the day he was scheduled to be interviewed by the IG,” the board said.
And that would seem to be that.
Except that the HHC refuses to release the actual Guidepost report, claiming it’s protected by lawyer-client privilege.
The HHC also refuses to say if the victimized women — the key players in this case — were ever interviewed by Guidepost.
“There were many individuals interviewed, including the former HHC employee who made the original allegation,” was about as far as HHC spokeswoman Ana Marengo was willing to go in an e-mail.
The ex-IG supervisor who sparked the investigation conceded to The Post that he amended his complaint against Aviles.
“I told Guidepost he didn’t get a face-to-face visit,” the former supervisor said. “But he got a letter.”
To put the matter to rest, the HHC might want to reconsider its decision not to allow the public to see the entire report.