Three Jersey City police officers have filed lawsuits against Jersey City Police Chief Robert Troy and other top police and city officials.
Last year Sgt. Valerie Montone and Officer Marisa Johnston each filed a lawsuit, and recently Officer Mark Razzoli filed one.
Razzoli’s case is pending in State Superior Court in Jersey City, while Johnston and Montone are in federal court in Newark. Montone, a 25-year veteran, claimed in her lawsuit that Troy refused to promote her to lieutenant even though she was ranked number five on a promotion list.
She claims the refusal to promote her was tied to her support of former mayoral candidate and now State Assemblyman Louis Manzo during the 2004 special mayoral election, as well as past complaints about sexual harassment from other policemen on the job.
Her lawsuit also alleges that sexual harassment came from Troy, stating that he told another police officer she was “cow c-t” in an incident in August.
Johnston, with over 17 years on the force, claimed in her lawsuit that she was subjected to a “hostile work environment” and sexual harassment, that she was denied promotion opportunities, and that Troy and other city officials facilitated the mistreatment.
Her lawsuit states that she supported Manzo and that there was a list of officers within the police department who also supported Manzo.
Razzoli, a 12-year veteran, claimed in his lawsuit that he was demoted and moved down the department’s seniority list because he, like Montone, supported Manzo during the November 2004 election. Razzoli also claimed he was subjected to harassment by several top police officials.
Montone’s attorney, Lisa Manshel, offered no comment. Johnston’s attorney, Diane Sammons, was unable to comment presently. Razzoli’s attorney, John Burke, could not be reached for comment.
Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who was named as a defendant in Montone’s lawsuit, said last week the lawsuits “were without merit,” based on his knowledge of them.
“This is a highly litigious society and people are getting more litigious every day,” Healy said. “I am not worried about a lawsuit. Good lord, there’s been a history of them filed against the city and the police department.”
Troy’s attorney, Dominick Carmagnola, did not return a call for comment.
Denied promotion; harassment allowed
Montone, in her 25-page lawsuit originally filed federal court in Newark on Dec. 13, 2005, cited as defendants Troy, Healy, the Jersey City Police Department, and the city itself.
Her lawsuit details how Montone had been twice passed up for promotion on the department’s lieutenant list, having ranked number five on the list during a three-year period from 2003-2006 and number one from 2000-2003.
Also, the suit claims that Montone’s most recent opportunity for a promotion was stifled by Troy’s refusal to promote any officers above her or below her on the list, instead making promotions to the rank of sergeant, captain and inspector.
Among the reasons given in the lawsuit for not promoting Montone were Troy’s false accusations of her handing out naked pictures of the mayor at the wedding of the mayor’s daughter and supporting Manzo’s candidacy for mayor.
The lawsuit also alleges that Troy made several sexually disparaging remarks about her in front of police captains and other high-ranking officials, calling the remarks “sexual harassment” that “would set an example and result in more widespread hostility toward the plaintiff.”
Healy’s misconduct is not spelled out directly in the lawsuit, but the suit alludes to the Police Department’s inability to have an ordinance in place to specify the number of officers in each rank within the Police Department to better monitor the promotions and to ensure that those staffing levels are always maintained after promotions or retirement.
Also in the lawsuit is Montone’s previous litigation against the Jersey City Police Department in 1993, when Montone and several other female officers sued for alleged “severe and pervasive” sexual harassment. That lawsuit was settled in 1998, but Montone claims in her current lawsuit that the previous charges against the department resulted in retaliatory actions against her in the years following.
Her lawsuit seeks damages for “economic losses” and “harm to reputation.” It also demands that the 2003-2006 Police Department’s lieutenants list allow Montone to be promoted. Faced ‘hostile work environment’
Johnston, in her 28-page lawsuit filed on Dec. 28, claimed she “was subjected to demeaning, offensive, and humiliating treatment” while working under Troy in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), and since 2004 in the East District, which covers Downtown Jersey City.
She named as defendants Troy, the Police Department, the city, Police Officer Neil Donovan, police civilian employee John Salmon, current city Personnel Director Larry Ross, and former business administrator Carlton McGee.
But Troy, for whom Johnston first worked when he took over the BCI in 2000, is the prime target of her lawsuit.
Johnston claimed that as her commanding officer, Troy created a “hostile work environment” that became worse after she filed a complaint regarding in December 2002.
In the lawsuit, Johnston claims that Troy’s initial mistreatment included denying her a work schedule to accommodate her as a mother, posting degrading memos at her desk, accusing her of shredding fingerprint cards, and calling her husband – also a Jersey City police officer – into his office to complain about her behavior in a dispute with another officer.
In the lawsuit, Johnston claims that when Troy heard of her complaint about her allegedly hostile work situation, he “became incensed and intensified his campaign to seek a purposeful scheme to get Officer Johnston fired, transferred, or force her resignation.”
The lawsuit states that the campaign included transferring her out of the BCI to a position in the East District, which “amounted to a demotion.”
One unusual incident the lawsuit cites is Johnston’s alleged discovery of a circus poster at the BCI Headquarters, which depicted a ringleader and several lions. According to the lawsuit, a cutout of Troy’s head was pasted onto the head of the ringleader, and a cutout of Johnston’s head was pasted onto a lion’s mouth.
The lawsuit states Johnston was “devastated” when she discovered the circus poster. The lawsuit states that Salmon was responsible for the poster prank and was not disciplined, due to Troy’s interference.
Johnston is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Punished for backing the wrong candidate
In his eight-page lawsuit, Razzoli claims that Troy and several police officers harassed him because of his outright support for Manzo.
Razzoli named Troy, Troy’s chief of staff Thomas Comey, Lt. Joseph Connors, and Detective Phillip Matsikoudis – brother of City Corporation counsel William Matsikoudis – the Police Department, and the city as defendants.
Razzoli claimed in his lawsuit that the defendants “began to take reprisals and other actions” for his support of Manzo after Healy was elected in November 2004. The reprisals, he claimed, impeded his constitutional right to support an opposing candidate.
The alleged reprisals included demoting Razzoli to the Juvenile Division and having him work the evening shift, instead of his entitled daytime shift, by removing his seniority on the department’s civil service list, which is based on how many years of service an officer has served on the force.
Also, the lawsuit charges that Matsikoudis and other officers made harassing calls to Razzoli at his house when he was out sick “to punish him for his political affiliation,” and they forced him to attend “numerous medical examinations.”
Razzoli is seeking to re-instate of his seniority on the civil service list, to transfer back to his old post in the East District and being eligible for overtime pay that he claimed he would have earned from overtime assignments in his old East District post. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.