It Goeth Before the Fall

Meet Philadelphia's Carl Greene, Public Housing Executive of the Year.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority was placed on leave Thursday amid revelations the agency quietly agreed to pay nearly $900,000 to settle four sexual-harassment complaints filed against him, and U.S housing officials pledged an immediate audit.

Agency board members voted to put longtime director Carl Greene on leave while it investigates the harassment claims and the secret settlements.

Greene has been mostly unreachable since news broke two weeks ago that the $350,000-a-year housing executive had fallen months behind on his mortgage and that the IRS had placed a $52,000 lien on his luxury home. Neither staff nor board members could reach him for days.

His lawyer disclosed Thursday that he has checked into an out-of-state medical facility to be treated for undisclosed medical problems. Greene, 53, is expected to remain there through mid-September, lawyer Clifford Haines said.

"Carl's a very proud man," said Haines, who described Greene as distressed by the allegations. "I have yet to hear anybody make a connection between any of the things that have occurred and his performance."

Hmmm. Undisclosed medical problems? Is there an operation where one can have excess pride removed?