Former Portland Mayor Sam Adams cleared of sexual harassment claims following HR investigation

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - After an investigation into sexual harassment claims, former Portland Mayor Sam Adams was cleared of any wrongdoing.

In 2017, former executive assistant Cevero Gonzalez alleged Adams made sexually charged comments in the workplace and behaved erratically. Adams denied the allegations.

An investigation into the claims began in 2021 by the City of Portland Bureau of Human Resources when Adams was Director of Strategic Innovations for Mayor Ted Wheeler.

This week, Adams reached out to FOX 12 directly and provided a seven-page report of the investigation, which was completed in June 2021 and released in Jan. 2023.

According to the report, no sufficient evidence to support Gonzalez’s claims were found during the investigation. The report says no former and current City Hall employees had witnessed any sort of behavior that Gonzalez claimed or heard complaints about such behavior from Gonzalez.

“Based on the documents reviewed and the interviews conducted on this matter, our investigation did not find sufficient evidence that would allow us to substantiate a violation of (city rules) based on the claims brought forward by Mr. Gonzalez,” the report concluded.

Adams resigned as Wheeler’s Director of Strategic Innovations in January of this year due to health concerns.