Lawsuit: Monroe Police Department 'rife with sexual harassment and gender discrimination'

Editor’s note: This article contains sexual content that some readers may find offensive.

Two former Monroe Township Police Department dispatchers allege in a lawsuit they “were forced to endure an utterly intolerable work environment rife with sexual harassment and gender discrimination.”

The former dispatchers, Mairead DeCoursey and Stephanie Salguero, say in the lawsuit filed earlier this month in Middlesex County Superior Court that they were forced to resign after the township failed to take corrective action on their complaints.

Township Attorney Louis Rainone said Monroe has not yet been served with the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names as defendants the township, Sgt. Daniel Mackin, Lt. Brian Dziomba, Officer Daniel Lang and Administrative Telecommunications Officer Heather Howell, the dispatchers' supervisor.

The former dispatchers claim they were subjected to repeated instances of disparate treatment and harassment based on their gender, creating a hostile, abusive and discriminatory work environment.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants did not conduct an adequate investigation or take remedial action to protect the dispatchers, didn't have an effective anti-harassment policy, didn't train supervisors or employees about discrimination, harassment and retaliation, didn't conduct an adequate and prompt investigation of the dispatchers' complaints and didn't have a commitment from top management that harassment would not be tolerated.

The women are asking to be rehired and awarded back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and other relief.

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Salguero began working as a police dispatcher in April 2021, DeCoursey in October 2022, and both performed their job responsibilities competently and diligently, according to their lawsuit.

In January 2023 the women were placed in a different rotation with Mackin "whose penchant for misogyny and harassment were infinite," the lawsuit alleges.

Mackin shared lewd and graphic stories about his sexual experiences and made inappropriate sexual comments, even though the women expressed their discomfort, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, Sgt. Mackin, who was the source of much of the harassment, allegedly told the women that "all dispatchers are loose" and are "too young and inexperienced."

Mackin also graphically described to the women his trips to strip clubs with other male officers, including accounts of lewd acts, and crudely described the strippers' bodies, according to the lawsuit.

He also allegedly shared stories about police officers getting caught in sexual encounters in the back of patrol vehicles and how early in his career he "stalked a hot female" and noted her address after a police interaction and would "fake emergencies" to go into her home, according to the lawsuit.

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DeCoursey claims in the lawsuit she told Mackin his actions were inappropriate and a "horrible" abuse of power as a law enforcement officer.

The women complained to Howell, their supervisor, about Makin's behavior but she was indifferent and failed to take any action, the lawsuit charges.

The lawsuit contends Officer Lang told the dispatchers they were not welcome to attend a PBA-sponsored fishing trip because the event was for "guys and cops only," and Lt. Dziomba regularly singled out the dispatchers for being young and inexperienced women and was overly critical of their work.

The dispatchers again complained to Howell who dismissed their complaints, the lawsuit says.

The women then formally filed complaints with the township's Human Resources Department, which referred them to the police department's Internal Affairs department, which in November 2023 deemed the women's complaints unsubstantiated, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says the dispatchers faced retaliation for their complaints during the Internal Affairs investigation.

In DeCoursey's formal complaint she said the discriminatory comments made about her age or gender were "setting a precedent that we are not welcome within the department and we will never be treated with respect because of our age and gender," the lawsuit says.

Salguero's formal complaint also charged that women in the department will never be treated with the same respect at their male co-workers, the lawsuit says.

"Ultimately the defendants' tolerance of this utterly intolerable work environment and failure to remediate their concerns, resulted in the plaintiffs' constructive discharge from their employment," the lawsuit says, adding the dispatchers had no alternative but to quit.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Monroe NJ Police Department 'rife with sexual harassment', suit says