The Boston City Hall sexual harassment lawsuit will be heard Wednesday

Marty Walsh and Felix G. Arroyo are shown in this file photo.

A six-year-old sexual harassment lawsuit against the city’s former health chief Felix G. Arroyo is finally coming to trial Wednesday, and heavyweights in Boston’s political and legal circles, including then-Mayor Marty Walsh, are expected to take the stand .

The Hilani Morales case against her former boss Arroyo and the City of Boston, in which Morales accuses the then-Health Cabinet chief of sexually harassing her and the city of retaliating against her and demoting her after she complained prevailed in the courts since March 2018.

Arroyo, who was fired by Walsh after an internal investigation, and the city deny the allegations. Arroyo says he never harassed Morales and that she was a bad employee, while the city denies claims that it retaliated against Morales, saying it took action against Arroyo after she complained to human resources.

Both Arroyo and Morales are seeking damages in the case, which begins Wednesday with jury selection in Suffolk Superior Court in what is expected to be a two- to three-week trial presided over by Judge Adam Sisitsky, court documents show.

Morales is seeking $95,000 for back pay, attorney’s fees and medical bills, as well as “damages attributable to emotional distress,” including hospitalizations and treatments she underwent, attributing it to the actions of Arroyo and the city.

Arroyo filed a counterclaim against Morales in court, saying she defamed him when she made assault allegations against her colleagues and was seeking damages “for emotional distress and loss of reputation.”

He has also filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city, which did not conclude in its internal investigation that led to his firing that he assaulted or had sex with his employee, Morales, although it found that ” Morales’ allegations could expose the city to liability,” an outside attorney for the city wrote at the time.

Morales claims that she ultimately succumbed to Arroyo’s repeated advances, which she said often occurred at City Hall and other work-related situations, and entered into a sexual relationship with him during a difficult time in their marriage – when she was separated from her husband and had been in charge He filed for divorce proceedings in 2016 and was receiving psychiatric treatment.

She claims that Arroyo began criticizing her work performance after she decided to reconcile with her husband and break off the relationship in January 2017, and that a physical assault occurred when Arroyo grabbed her by the neck, after he found out about a meeting. She had made an appointment with the HR department.