Former PHA head Carl R. Greene waives right to a jury trial in his suit against the housing agency

Carl R. Greene, the former executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, waived his right to a jury trial Monday in his breach-of-contract dispute with the authority.

The sides were to have begun selecting jurors Monday. Instead, they will present opening arguments before U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Greene claims that the agency did not have cause to fire him in September 2010 and owes him $743,000 in salary and vacation time, plus damages.

In 2010, four of PHA's five commissioners voted to terminate Greene after news reports about personal financial problems and disclosures about multiple sexual harassment complaints. During Greene's nearly 13-year tenure, PHA paid more than $1 million to settle four sexual harassment complaints. The board claimed it did not know about the settlements.

Clifford Haines, Greene's attorney, said the idea of a nonjury trial was presented during a pretrial meeting Monday morning with Buckwalter. He said "it struck both parties as a potentially good idea."

The trial is expected to last three weeks. Among the reasons cited by the board for Greene's firing were his personal financial problems; the sexual harassment complaints and circumstances surrounding settlements; and a hostile work environment that Greene allegedly created at PHA.