The Boston Globe has dropped its lawsuit against Hilary Sargent, a former employee who says editor Brian McGrory sexually harassed her.



"The Globe reluctantly filed this action, viewing it as the only recourse. This action has largely succeeded in achieving its purpose...Ms. Sargent has finally, and for the first time, provided the information the Globe has requested from the start," Mark Batten, a lawyer for the newspaper wrote in a court filing.





The Globe took Sargent to court last week, asking a Superior Court judge to compel her to sit down for a formal interview and hand over all material related to her accusations.



On May 20 Sargent, the former editor of Boston.com, posted a screenshot of a text she said McGrory sent her. In the text, she seems to be asking for writing advice. The person responds: "what do you generally wear you when you write?"



Five days after the tweet, the Globe requested a motion for a preliminary injunction "for the sole purpose of securing Ms. Sargent's expedited cooperation with its investigation of an allegation Ms. Sargent made about the Globe's Editor Brian McGrory, after no such cooperation was forthcoming."



Jack Siegal, who is representing Sargent, says the Globe's statement is an "effort to save face" after they filed a "premature, heavy handed, and misguided" motion.

"Ms. Sargent has always been at the vanguard of raising awareness of inappropriate behavior at the Globe and remains open to speaking with the Globe -- but without litigation and threats of reprisal," Siegal wrote.



Sargent worked for the newspaper as an intern from 1998 to 1999 and again from 2014 to 2016 as a reporter and editor for Boston.com, the Globe's free website. She and McGrory date intermittently between 1999 and 2005.



She has been outspoken about her experiences with sexual harassment while working at the Globe on Twitter for more than six months. She also sent emails to the Globe's CEO and its owner John Henry offering to speak about her experience in late 2017.



Except for in her affidavit Sargent had not spoken about her allegations or the suit since the Globe filed May 25 but released a statement Monday.



"Last fall, I began asking The Boston Globe's leadership to be open to hearing privately about the experiences of former employees with respect to sexual harassment. My requests to discuss the matter privately were ignored. It wasn't until I went public last month with an accusation that the Globe contacted me, and immediately threatened litigation. I have never refused to cooperate in the Globe's 'investigation.' No media institution that expects to be taken seriously on the issue of sexual harassment should ignore concerns of one of its former employees, nor should they resort to litigation as a first option. I am disappointed that the Globe's leadership chose that route, and I'm pleased they chose to drop this lawsuit. I look forward to speaking openly without the threat of litigation, and in a manner that takes into account the sensitivity of the subject matter," Sargent wrote.



In a statement, the Globe said the legal action was successful because it "learned significant new information." Specifically, that Sargent did not know when the messages were sent and that she said it was "more likely" the text exchange after she worked at the Globe.



In Sargent's affidavit, she wrote that the purpose of her tweet was "to bring public awareness to what I consider to be McGrory's inappropriate behavior, and more importantly - to bring attention to the Globe's leadership by concerns and view that this behavior is a long-standing and pervasive problem at the Globe."



She said the message she shared was "merely an example of the nature of messages McGrory sent me during the time I was employed at the Globe which I believe are inappropriate and sexually suggestive."



In its statement, the Globe said it looks forward to Sargent speaking with their independent investigator.



The Globe declined to answer whether the findings of their investigation would be made public.