'Knockers' and 'Boobs': $7 Million Awarded in Dental Office Sexual Harassment Suit

A New Jersey judge has awarded more than $7 million in damages and legal fees to eight plaintiffs in a sexual harassment suit where most of the defendants defaulted at a late stage in the proceedings.

The award by Camden County Superior Court Judge Michael Kassel included $3.1 million in compensatory damages, $3.1 million in punitive damages and a fee award of $971,000 in a suit claiming a dental practice subjected women employees to a hostile work environment.

Matthew Luber of McOmber McOmber & Luber. Courtesy photo

Eight plaintiffs filed the suit in 2015 against the operators of various dental offices working under the name Signature Smiles in Vineland and Atlantic City, as well as principals Milt Hallock, Vaughn Clemens and others. The plaintiffs, whose titles include a comptroller, technician and dental assistant, claimed Hallock and Clemens repeatedly subjected them to unwelcome touching of their breasts and buttocks and solicitation of sexual encounters. Hallock also frequently discussed and commented on female employees’ “knockers,” “tits” and “boobs” in the workplace and referred to females as “bitches,” the suit claimed.

The suit also claimed that defendant Hallock exposed his genitals or pictures of his genitals to plaintiffs, and required those employees who requested time off to send him a picture of themselves nude or dressed in lingerie.

Attorneys for Cooper Levenson entered an appearance on behalf of Hallock, a regional manager, and most of the other defendants. Clemens had separate counsel, the claims are still pending against him, and he is not party to the $7 million award.

After the parties participated in mediation in 2018, but no resolution was reached, the parties prepared for trial twice, according to court papers.

Meaghan Pazmino of McOmber McOmber & Luber. Courtesy photo

Cooper Levenson filed multiple motions for summary judgment and Kassel largely denied them in 2018. Cooper Levenson then moved to withdraw from the case, and that request was granted in 2019.

Cooper Levenson’s motion supporting the motion to withdraw was filed under seal, so the firm’s reasons for pulling out remain unknown.

That move left the defendants, other than Clemens, without representation.

As a result, the lawyers for the plaintiffs, Matthew Luber and Meaghan Pazmino of McOmber McOmber & Luber in Red Bank, moved for a proof hearing in lieu of trial.

On Oc. 21, Kassel granted a default motion for $6.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages and $971,000 in fees and costs.

Hallock did not respond to a phone message left at a number listed for him in court records. Russell Lichtenstein of Cooper Levenson, who represented Hallock and several other defendants before being released from the case, said four years had passed since he represented any of the parties.

Luber, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said of the outcome: “We think [the defendants] have assets and we intent to collect on [the judgment]. We still have to collect on the judgment, but for us, and my clients, the defendants engaged in some really inappropriate conduct. They were vicious, the way they acted to our clients. So [the plaintiffs] were very happy to get such a large judgment against them.”