Pelletier Sexual Harassment Case Settles For $700,000

Kim Pelletier, the former Somerset highway department laborer who sued the Town for sexual harassment by her male highway department co-workers and whose trial received wide media coverage because of the sensational evidence presented at trial, has settled her sexual harassment lawsuit for $700,000. The case was set to be re-tried in New Bedford Superior Court on January 17, 2012.

The settlement writes the final chapter of a long, difficult saga for Ms. Pelletier. When asked about the settlement, Ms. Pelletier’s attorney, Carlin J. Phillips of Phillips & Garcia, P.C. stated, “It was time for the case to end and for people to start healing. Kim is a wonderful person who has suffered tremendously throughout this whole process. I am glad for Kim that the case is now over and she can move on with her life.” Phillips also noted the bitter sweet aspect of the settlement. “We will always wonder what the second jury would have done with the case in the retrial. When you work this long and hard on a case for such a great client -- starting out before a caring Superior Court jury, up to the state’s highest court and then back down to the trial court – it is difficult to just let go of the case without completing the process and conducting the second trial.”

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