Posted on 06/12/2005 3:41:16 AM PDT by QwertyKPH
It had all the trappings of a male bastion - racy pinups on the walls, stacks of porno magazines and videos in the lounge, even a female blowup doll.
But this was no college frat house. It was the office of a Bergen County government agency, according to a lawsuit filed by a female employee.
From the bulletin board to computer desktops, offensive pictures and raunchy conduct by workers at the county's Mosquito Control Division in Paramus created a hostile work environment, entomologist Julee Mark alleged.
And that was not the worst of it, according to the suit. Employees and supervisors held "weight-loss contests" and stripped down to their underwear to weigh themselves on a scale, urinated with the bathroom door open and in public view and awarded raises and promotions for having sex with supervisors, Mark alleged in her suit.
The defendants denied the allegations, but as next week's trial date approached in state Superior Court in Hackensack, both sides reached a tentative settlement on Thursday.
Mark's attorney, Peter W. Baker, would not reveal the terms of the settlement or further discuss the suit, citing a confidentiality agreement. "But I can tell you it is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of all of the parties," he said.
County spokesman Brian Hague declined to comment Friday, saying the litigation is pending.
The suit named the county, its Public Works Department and Mosquito Control Division and eight individuals as defendants, including William "Pat" Schuber, the former county executive; DPW Director Paul Juliano; and Peter Pluchino, director of the mosquito unit. In her complaint, Mark, 32, of Washington Township alleged that her co-workers and supervisors began a pattern of harassment based on her sex and ethnicity - she is Hispanic and Asian - when she became a full-time employee in 2001. It continued, despite her verbal complaints to superiors, she said, until she filed suit in 2003 and Baker was able to get her relocated.
Mark, whose job includes examining mosquitoes for signs of the West Nile virus, was the only female working in the mosquito unit's Inspection Office, according to the suit. She was also the only employee of Asian and Hispanic ancestry, the suit says.
Mark said she was subjected to sexually suggestive comments and inappropriate touching; displays of pornography in the office, coed bathroom and the dashboards of county vehicles and on her computer screen when she used it; and the repeated use of the derogatory terms "spic" and "Rican."
Perhaps her most shocking claim involved a story allegedly related to Mark by her boss and again by a co-worker. According to the story, division employees in the late 1980s traded "pocket change" for sex with patients at the adjacent psychiatric hospital who wandered over to use their vending machines, Mark said in court papers.
"Obviously, if it did happen, it's a horrible, horrible thing that could potentially expose the county to God knows how much liability," Baker said earlier in the week. "So far, anybody who was involved with that incident, or who might know anything about it, has steadfastly denied having any knowledge of that ever having happened."
The plaintiff sought damages of $2.2 million, contending the defendants' offensive and abusive conduct caused her "great embarrassment, personal humiliation, emotional distress and indignity," court records show.
In an effort to document the scene, Mark took more than 40 digital photos at the county facility, some of which were included as exhibits in the case. They show a co-worker gazing at a Playboy centerfold; a blowup doll with a sign saying "Merry Christmas Dino please be gentle"; female pinups and calendars; reputed sex tapes near the TV and VCR in the employee lounge; and porn magazines in the bathroom.
Baker said that after Mark started complaining, she took photos of X-rated magazines that were allegedly left opened to pages showing graphic sex.
Soon after the case was filed, Baker got his client moved to an office building where she continues to do the same job. All the offensive material was gone when Baker later conducted an inspection of the mosquito division's facilities, he said.
The county spokesman declined to say whether anyone in the case had been reprimanded.
The other defendants named in the suit are: Peter Rendine, the chief inspector; employee James Bartlett; supervisor Sal Grootenboer; Mark Rella, a former co-worker, and Anthony Scolpino, the former public works director.
As he headed into settlement negotiations, Baker said his client was not looking to get rich.
"She's not in this to make a million. I think what she really wants to accomplish from this litigation is for there to be a greater awareness that this is going on. And above all else, she wants things to change. She doesn't want this to happen to anybody else."
E-mail: sampson@northjersey.com
if this is what was happening at mosquito control one could only imagine what was happening at mcreevy's office
"...and awarded raises and promotions for having sex with supervisors"
"Mark, whose job includes examining mosquitoes for signs of the West Nile virus, was the only female working in the mosquito unit's Inspection Office, according to the suit"
She was the only woman? So the sex acts for promotions and or raises were male on male?
This kind of thing really bugs me!
Typical government operation. Let it be known at least two weeks in advance that there is going to be an inspection and what they are looking for so the department has plenty of time to clean up their act (temporarily) beforehand.
-She was the only woman? So the sex acts for promotions and or raises were male on male?-
That's what I'm readin'.
They need somebody to clean that place up, so naturally, Bill Clinton is on his way!
NJ Has a Mosquito Control authority? Who'd have guessed?
That's what I'm readin'.
I've sent an e-mail to the reporter asking if that indeed is the case. If the reporter reponds, I'll let you know.
Except,of course,for the stupid,contemptible taxpayers.
That's what I'm readin'.
I've sent an e-mail to the reporter asking if that indeed is the case. If the reporter reponds, I'll let you know.
Here's the reply from the reporter.
Dear XXXXXXX,
To clarify:
Marks worked in the Inspection Office and the suit she was the only female employee in that office. The division has two other work areas, a garage building and a main office where there are other women workers who allegedly engaged in sex with male supervisors. Peter.
Yeah, they send the ones that are too small to Pennsylvania. :=)
here in CT we take a few NJ mosquitoes, daub a bit of red paint on them and call them robins
Thanks for the update.
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