New York County Defender Services Hit With New Sexual Harassment Suit From Ex-Training Leader
Bonacarti's attorney, John Beranbaum of Beranbaum Menken, told the Law Journal on Wednesday that her case was settled. He declined to discuss further details.
November 13, 2019 at 07:08 PM
4 minute read
A major Manhattan public defenders' organization was sued over alleged sexual harassment Wednesday.
The lawsuit, filed by Megan Goddard of Goddard Law, was the second such lawsuit in a two-year span.
The new complaint alleges that numerous female employees of New York County Defender Services were treated unfairly and demeaned in the workplace. Plaintiff Andrea Moletteri, who worked at NYCDS for 17 years and led the organization's training program for much of that time, was both an observer and a victim of that treatment, according to the complaint.
Moletteri is asking for $3 million in damages for sexual harassment and retaliation, according to her complaint.
The complaint alleges that defendant and NYCDS executive director Stan Germán graphically described women's bodies in the office and referred to NYCDS employees and court workers by their body parts rather than their names. Other male attorneys joined in, according to the complaint.
Moletteri brought her concerns about this behavior to leaders in the office, including defendant and NYCDS director Carolyn Wilson, but she was brushed off and told to ignore it, according to the complaint.
One woman named in the complaint as "Jane Doe" appears to be Alexandra Bonacarti, who sued NYCDS, Germán and NYCDS director of data research and policy Christopher Boyle in October 2017. Boyle is also named as a defendant in Moletteri's suit.
Both suits describe Boyle regularly and openly harassing Bonacarti, even after she asked him to stop and reported the incidents to supervisors. She suffered intense retaliation instead, according to both complaints.
Bonacarti's attorney, John Beranbaum of Beranbaum Menken, told the Law Journal Wednesday that her case was settled. He declined to discuss further details. In an answer filed prior to the settlement, NYCDS claimed Bonacarti and Boyle had dated in the past and that Bonacarti's behavior was more of a factor in their difficult relationship than she acknowledged.
Watching the Bonacarti situation made Moletteri afraid for the future of NYCDS, according to the Moletteri complaint. She called on the organization to create policies to address discrimination but was "ignored or ridiculed" at supervisors' meetings, according to the complaint.
"It was clear to all of the employees in the office that Defendant NYCDS would not protect female employees from discrimination or punish male employees for discriminating against female employees," Goddard, who is representing Moletteri, wrote in the complaint. "Accordingly, the female employees realized that they had to accept rampant sexual harassment and discrimination in the office if they wanted to work at Defendant NYCDS."
After repeatedly raising issues of sexual harassment, Moletteri was demoted and shut out of leadership responsibilities at NYCDS, according to her complaint, and eventually she left the firm in response to the demotion. The complaint describes this as a constructive termination.
A number of other male and female employees were forced out at NYCDS after Germán became executive director, all in connection with sexual harassment or support for harassment victims, according to the complaint.
Goddard said she's proud of Moletteri for doing everything she could to change the "toxic culture" at NYCDS.
"The person who tried to right the ship was thrown overboard, and the people allegedly fostering a hostile and retaliatory work environment remain in power to this day," she said. "We look forward to achieving justice."
Lupe Todd-Medina, a spokeswoman representing NYCDS, said in a statement Thursday that the allegations are "outright lies" and an attempt to undermine the improvements Germán has made at the organization.
"It is truly sad that this tactic is being practiced at a time when many individuals who legitimately suffer workplace harassment are finally being heard," she said in the statement. "NYCDS looks forward to aggressively litigating this matter in court."
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