Muni transit director retires amid sexual harassment lawsuit

John Haley John Haley Photo: GILBERT W. ARIAS, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Photo: GILBERT W. ARIAS, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close Muni transit director retires amid sexual harassment lawsuit 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

John Haley, transit director for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, is retiring on the heels of a lawsuit alleging he sexually harassed and discriminated against his assistant, officials said late Friday.

Haley, who joined the agency in 2010, was accused of inappropriately touching his senior management assistant, Sabrina Suzuki, and repeatedly making inappropriate remarks about women and their bodies, dating to at least 2016.

The lawsuit, coupled with a letter calling for Haley’s suspension by the San Francisco Transit Riders organization, prompted Mayor London Breed to call for agency Director Ed Reiskin to employ an ombudsman to tackle existing allegations of discrimination, bullying and other types of misconduct across the transportation agency.

Breed told The Chronicle in early October that she was closely scrutinizing Haley and the agency.

Haley’s retirement was announced by agency officials late Friday night. He was responsible for running the agency’s bus, light rail, street car and cable car systems.

“John has played a significant role in improving transit for San Francisco, including making Muni more reliable and transforming one of the oldest fleets in the nation to the newest,” Reiskin said in a statement. “His experience, expertise, dedication and commitment to improving Muni service has been indispensable.”

The announcement credits Haley’s leadership for increasing Muni ridership and expanding the Muni bus and train fleets.

Allegations of discrimination by his assistant were first reported to city officials in November, when Suzuki filed a discrimination complaint with the city. Her lawsuit alleges human resources officials dismissed her claims because of insufficient evidence.

The lawsuit also alleges Haley denied her multiple promotions for being “too nice” to move up in management, and instead offered the job to a white man. Suzuki, who is Asian, said in the suit that Haley maintained a culture of promoting only white employees.

Suzuki said that in May 2016, Haley commented on the pants she wore to work and grabbed her thigh to prevent her from moving away, so he could see her backside. On another occasion, she said she heard Haley say that a woman at a Christmas party was “spilling out of her dress.”

At the time the lawsuit was filed in September, spokesman Paul Rose told The Chronicle that the transportation agency would follow any procedures required by the city to address the allegations.

Lauren Hernández is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor