By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Washington Heights councilman Ydanis Rodriguez has struck a deal that will allow him to regain his chairmanship of a city council committee after he completes an "employee relations" course.
Rodriguez will not have to face a full council hearing into allegations that he improperly touched a female staffer if he successfully completes the course, his lawyer Leo Glickman said Wednesday.
The council's standards and ethics committee found the Washington Heights councilman guilty earlier this month of "poking" an unidentified female staffer "between the throat and chest" during an argument, leading to his suspension as chair of the Higher Education Committee.
"The whole point of this was to get this behind us," Glickman said of the decision to agree to the course.
Rodriguez, who maintains that he did nothing wrong, also agreed to withdraw any pending lawsuits regarding the committee's investigation into the incident.
In exchange, Glickman said Rodriguez will be automatically reinstated to his chairmanship.
The comittee is expected to release the transcript of Rodriguez's eight hour, Aug. 4 hearing, which was closed to the press, by the end of the day Wednesday.
