Natalie Cheevers worked her last day Tuesday at the Somerville Public Library’s West Branch. Her departure was the third in the past week.
The evening before, she made a post on a Somerville community page on Facebook saying she was a victim of sexual harassment and verbal abuse during her nearly three years at the branch, at 40 College Ave. near Davis Square.
“It breaks my heart to write this, because I foolishly believed justice would prevail and I wouldn’t be in this position, but today was my last day at the Somerville Public Library – not by choice but out of fear of my own safety as previous victims/those who had spoken up were retaliated against, stalked, followed to their homes, physically intimidated, etc.,” she wrote. “Year after year, young women like myself were sexually harassed and verbally assaulted daily by the same person.”
When the harasser went too far, she said, “these young women were either shifted to separate branches or forced to flee completely.”
The co-worker identified by Cheevers, other workers and by city documents, Carlos Sanchez, was contacted for comment through his library email address Wednesday but did not respond. Sanchez has worked at the library for more than 20 years and was previously in the parking department, said a spokesperson for the city.
The post by Cheevers goes on to describe behavior she said she experienced from Sanchez, alleging years of aggressive outbursts, unwanted physical advances and pressure to get involved in his personal matters, all while management continued to placate her.
By the next morning Cheevers’ post was inundated with comments of support and disgust.
“As one of those resigning staff members, I was at City Hall today for my exit interview and I can tell you that news of your post was getting around. You are making an impact,” wrote Alan Kravitz, whose last day at the library was a week prior. Another former branch member wrote, “I’m so proud of you! As another now ex-staff member that left due to the treatment of this man and the city’s allowing him to return, it is sad to leave what is otherwise such an amazing place. To give so much of yourself to a city that does not protect you from internal or external forces is exhausting. It’s hard to have faith in this city.” Somerville city councilor at large Willie Burnley Jr. made his support known too. “Natalie, I’m so sorry that you went through that and the administration did not give you the support you needed,” he wrote.
On leave during an investigation
Cheevers said she reported incidents of aggression, unprofessionalism and harassment to her manager, but no serious actions were taken. The situation was elevated to Human Resources in February, after the co-worker violently confronted her in the break room and another librarian called HR, she said. Kravitz called it “the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Sanchez was sent home and put on paid leave for eight months during an investigation, according to documents shared with Cambridge Day. But this was not the first time he has been investigated by the city.
“Natalie’s experience is not a single one,” said an SPL employee who was forced to move branches due to fear of retaliation from Sanchez.
A human-resources investigation in 2022 followed an accusation he grabbed another West Branch employee from behind and put his hands around her waist, said former co-workers and city documents. The city forgot to deliver a response to her until two years later, which prevented an immediate appeal of a decision in Sanchez’s favor. She appealed this year once she got the chance, she said. The outcome is unknown.
Customer complaints as well
An investigation this year was led by Somerville’s director of human resources, Anne Gill, and included testimony from Cheevers and two other female library employees, according to the people involved and documents shared by them. They asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of retaliation from Sanchez.
They presented intricately documented timelines and emails, including to managers and city officials, complaining of inappropriate behaviors out of a “5-inch thick” binder compiled over years of complaints against Sanchez from co-workers and library patrons, all compiled by their previous manager. The worker’s stories say there has been retaliation in the form of criticisms about their work, and that one woman was followed home.
The women met with HR several times, but there was “radio silence” for months afterward, Cheevers said.
Sanchez’s behavior went beyond unprofessional, they said. He played tricks repeatedly on disabled and houseless patrons, scattering newly sorted books throughout the library and jamming printers on purpose, they said. The West Branch library has several negative Yelp reviews referring to a rude male employee at the circulation desk. “I’m trying to figure out his schedule so I can avoid coming in when he’s working,” one review from 2012 reads.
A return, and departures
During Sanchez’s eight-month suspension this year, things were great, the employees said. “Patrons came to me saying when they realized he wasn’t there anymore they finally felt safe coming back to the West Branch, that they can bring their kids here, that this is now their home again,” Cheevers said in a phone interview.
A Nov. 4 email from Gill informed them that investigators had “found sufficient evidence of violation/s under the City’s Equal Opportunity Policy” and led to “appropriate actions to address the prohibited conduct.”
“The information you provided to investigator/s was instrumental to the investigation and I appreciate that you were forthright and candid about your concerns,” Gill said.
Two days later, though, came an email telling them Sanchez would return to the West Branch on Dec. 6.
“When the city goes on to lose multiple employees from the library, it will be because of this decision. It is a shame you prioritized him over the women who work here,” wrote an employee in an email to city and union representatives. At least two employees gave notice immediately afterward. “We were kind of naive enough to think that with all this, the city would do the right thing,” said Kravitz, a nearly 10-year library employee.
Ire at Mayor’s Office
Since Cheevers has gone public, residents have been calling on Mayor Katjana Ballantyne to make a statement on the decision to keep Sanchez despite evidence of violations. Cheevers and another employee of the library say HR told them the decision came from the Mayor’s Office.
“He and the mayor have known each other for a long time, it was clear she knew him,” Kravitz said in a phone interview, recalling a visit by Ballantyne during West Branch staff training in the fall of 2023. “She came in and was like, ‘Carlos is so great. He does so many amazing things.’ She gave him credit for things that other staff members have done,” said a second employee, also in a phone interview. According to several staff, Sanchez and Ballantyne would take selfies together that he would show co-workers and say “I have friends in high places.” The group photo taken that day, by Sanchez, was posted a Ballantyne’s social media account.
“We were like, ‘Is the mayor’s office actually capable of being impartial?’” said an SPL library employee in a phone interview.
In response to a request for comment, a city spokesperson said: “The city takes allegations of discrimination, harassment and abuse seriously and investigates these allegations whenever received. Given the significant privacy interests of all parties involved, the city cannot comment on the details or outcome of such investigations. It is important to understand, however, that the majority of the city’s employees, and nearly all of the city’s library staff, are union employees, which means they have additional rights established by collective bargaining agreements, and the city must follow certain processes when managing them. The city must have just cause to discipline a union employee, which generally includes progressively disciplining an employee. Whenever it makes a personnel decision, the city must take into account the rights and concerns of all parties involved.” The same response was later posted to the Somerville Reddit page.
Union aspects
Union membership does complicate the narrative. Sanchez has a longtime affiliation with the Somerville Municipal Workers Association, which was established in 1963 to protect workers across several city departments, according to an SMEA union member who asked to remain anonymous due to a fear of retaliation. “Unions are very much so complicit in allowing a lot of sexual harassment to go undealt with,” she said, going on to refer to Sanchez. “He does have a history of being a little bit of a grievance cash cow for the union, because anytime that he does something wrong and experiences discipline, the union grieves it. We’re currently in contract bargaining, and it always looks good for a union to have to have a number of grievances that the city needs to settle because it is leverage power going into bargaining.”
One worker who said Sanchez harassed her claims she did not then get equal treatment from the union, despite being a member. Both female union members said they took up the issue with union president Ed Halloran, but were told repeatedly that Sanchez pays his dues, so they were going to go to bat for him. “It just feels like we have to jump through so many hoops to get the protection that he gets,” she said.
According to one of the members, Sanchez is given union roles without asking. “They just put him into the empty ones after because they like him,” she said. “How many friendships are essentially allowing this guy to get away with years and years of bad behavior?”
No representatives from the union responded to requests for comment.
As for Cheevers, her concerns lie with the safety of future women in her role who won’t get a warning, and with patrons of the library. “I don’t really know what to say other than I’m really disappointed and I am scared for my patrons and my friends that work there. I am so scared of what action will be the one that will be enough, what is it going to take?” she said. “I just hope that the safety of my patrons and the safety of my co-workers is something that is more of a priority from here on out.”
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Gross. And hadn’t occurred to me how the union can really cut both ways when it comes to defending and leaving defenseless its own members. So like, double gross. Those women should run for union leadership and change up the policies around harassment. Meanwhile this creep got an 8 month paid vacation. Triple gross.
Definitely gross. I also hadn’t considered the union aspect of this situation. Does the union have any process for removing members who have crossed a line? If there is no way to remove someone, especially someone who’s gained power and authority within an organization, that organization will eventually become overrun with bad actors and bad behavior.
This is incredible. What does it take to get fired in Somerville?
The Cambridge Public Library Staff Association (CPLSA) and Massachusetts Library Staff Association (MLSA) Executive Board stand in solidarity with Somerville Public Library staff speaking out against Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s decision to fully reinstate a Library employee to his position after years of harassing and verbally abusing co-workers. Harassment and abuse have no place in any workplace and these allegations must be addressed promptly and seriously. Unfortunately, municipal governments are notorious for ignoring such reports and delaying responses, frequently pushing out the survivors of this abuse and thus rewarding the abhorrent behavior. Despite years of reports from staff and patrons alike and the City’s Human Resources Department’s finding that there was “sufficient evidence of violation/s under the City’s Equal Opportunity Policy,” the Mayor reinstated this employee to his position at the West Branch, putting other Library employees and the public back into harm’s way. In a statement that hides behind the confidential nature of personnel matters and blames the union’s protection of its members, Ballantyne’s office attempted to rid themselves of any responsibility or accountability in this situation. This has resulted in the resignation of several Library employees and this trend will doubtlessly continue.
The CPLSA and MLSA eBoard condemn Mayor Ballantyne’s actions and calls on her to truly support City and Library employees by demanding an end to harassment and abuse in the workplace. This includes adequate disciplinary action against those perpetrating abuse and protecting employees from further harassment. We call on Mayor Ballantyne to listen to the voices of Library employees and community members when they demand accountability and justice for Library staff.