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TRENTON -- The Division
on Civil Rights announced today it has issued
a Finding of Probable Cause against a Middlesex
County first aid squad in connection with
charges that its leaders sexually harassed
a female squad member, then retaliated against
her for objecting to the harassment.
Named as Respondents in
the Finding of Probable Cause are the Avenel-Colonia
First Aid Squad, along with squad captain
Carmen Parisio and assistant captain Wayne
Tasaki, both of Woodbridge Township. Both
men are members of the first-aid squad’s
four-member executive board.
The Respondents are accused
of sexually harassing former first aid squad
member Jennifer Braun, of South Amboy, during
a period of several months in 2009. They
also are accused of subjecting Braun to
workplace reprisals, including eventual
dismissal, after she made clear she opposed
the sexually-charged work atmosphere.
“The conduct alleged
in this case is disturbing. It suggests
a pervasive workplace culture of disregard
for the dignity of women in general, and
of this complainant in particular,”
said Division on Civil Rights Director Chinh
Q. Le. “A particularly troubling aspect
of this case is the apparent lack of recourse
for employees who felt harassed. The leaders
to whom such conduct would normally be reported
were the ones allegedly engaged in the harassing
conduct.
“Employers have a
duty to create and maintain a work environment
in which all employees are treated with
equality, dignity and respect,” Le
continued. “In addition, employers
are prohibited from using discipline or
discharge to retaliate against a worker
who objects to, or reports, discriminatory
conduct.”
A recent high school graduate,
Braun joined the Avenel-Colonia First Aid
Squad as a paid emergency medical technician
in December 2008.
In that position, she worked
on ambulance teams of two that were generally
assigned to either 12-hour or eight-hour
work shifts. In addition to responding to
emergency calls, EMTs employed by Avenel-
Colonia were expected to perform other duties
at squad headquarters including general
housekeeping, outside ground maintenance
and ambulance maintenance.
According to Braun, the
alleged harassment began in early 2009 --
approximately one month after she had begun
working as an EMT. In her complaint, Braun
said that for a period of months starting
in January – and continuing into April
when she was discharged – she was
repeatedly subjected to demeaning comments
and inappropriate questioning by Parisio
and Tasaki about sexual preferences, the
size of her breasts and other sex-related
topics. Although offended by the questions,
Braun told Division investigators, she dealt
with the situation by simply ignoring the
questions because Parisio and Tasaki were
her supervisors, and she saw no viable recourse.
In addition to the inappropriate
questions, Braun described an incident that
took place during an overnight shift in
which Tasaki allegedly began yelling inappropriate
comments about his own anatomy while Braun
was attempting to sleep in a darkened “bunk
room.”
In another incident –
an incident captured by Braun using the
voice recorder on her cell phone –
Parisio telephoned a woman he identified
as his ex-girlfriend, activated the speaker
in Braun’s presence, and began asking
the woman on the other end of the line questions
about his sexual prowess. After ending the
phone conversation, Parisio allegedly began
urging Braun to ask him questions about
his sexual techniques. Braun advised Parisio
that she was uninterested in his private
life, she told the Division.
During a Division fact-finding
conference on the Braun complaint, both
Parisio and Tasaki denied that any overtly-sexual
conversations took place on the job. However,
six former Avenel-Colonia First Aid Squad
employees interviewed by the Division corroborated
that graphic, sexually-charged conversations
took place regularly at squad headquarters.
One former employee also told investigators
that Tasaki often referred to her by a vulgar
slur used to denote part of the female anatomy.
Both Parisio and Tasaki
denied all allegations made by Braun and
the witnesses who spoke to Division investigators.
In addition, Parisio provided documentation
that Braun was written up for two performance-related
incidents: her inability to find an address
in a map book on one occasion, and her use
of deficient “lifting techniques”
when handling a stretcher. On another occasion,
Parisio said, he took Braun to task for
not wearing a reflector vest at an accident
scene. Braun acknowledged the reflector
vest incident, but said she forgot the vest
in her rush to aid an accident victim. She
said she retrieved the vest and put it on
once reminded.
Based on these infractions,
Braun was terminated. Yet a number of former
Avenel-Colonia squad employees interviewed
by the Division said the type of on-the-job
transgressions attributed to Braun were
minor and would generally not be considered
noteworthy enough for a formal write-up,
or in some cases any discipline at all.
According to the Finding
of Probable Cause, the Division’s
investigation “revealed sufficient
evidence to support (Braun’s) allegation
that her termination was retaliatory …”
The Finding of Probable
Cause also notes that Parisio’s claim
that he discharged Braun for poor performance
and insubordination was “based on
incidents that do not appear to involve
serious violations of rules or policy, and
that appear to be, in fact, commonplace.”
A Finding of Probable Cause
does not resolve a civil rights complaint.
Rather, it means the state has concluded
its preliminary investigation and determined
there is sufficient evidence to support
a reasonable suspicion the New Jersey Law
Against Discrimination (LAD) has been violated.
The LAD provides that each
Respondent found to have committed a violation
is subject to a statutory penalty of up
to $10,000, provided he or she has not been
convicted of a previous violation within
the past five years. Respondents who have
violated the LAD within the past five years
are subject to a penalty of up to $25,000,
while those who have been convicted of two
or more violations within the past seven
years are subject to a penalty of up to
$50,000.
In addition, under amendments
to the LAD, Respondents found to have committed
unlawful discrimination may be liable for
substantial compensatory damages, including
back pay, and pain and humiliation.
Now that the Division has
issued a Finding of Probable Cause, the
case will be referred for a process known
as Conciliation. If Conciliation is not
successful, the matter will be referred
to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing
on the merits, which is a non-jury trial.
The Administrative Law Judge will then issue
a written Initial Decision.
Director Le thanked Division
Investigator Agnes Roncaglio, Paterson office
manager Carolyn Paul, Legal Specialist Benn
Meistrich, Deputy Director Gary LoCassio
and Deputy Attorneys General Charles Cohen
and James Michael for their work on the
Avenel-Colonia First Aid Squad matter.
A Finding of Probable Cause
does not resolve a civil rights complaint.
Rather, it means the state has concluded
its preliminary investigation and determined
there is sufficient evidence to support
a reasonable suspicion the New Jersey Law
Against Discrimination (LAD) has been violated.
The Law Against Discrimination
(LAD) provides that each Respondent found
to have committed a violation is subject
to a penalty of up to $10,000, provided
he or she has not been convicted of a previous
violation within the past five years. The
LAD also provides for other remedies, including
compensatory damages and injunctive relief,
such as changes in the employer's policies
and management/staff training.
Now that the Division has
issued a Finding of Probable Cause, the
case will be referred for a process known
as Conciliation. If Conciliation is not
successful, the matter will be referred
to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing
on the merits, which is a non-jury trial.
The Administrative Law Judge will then issue
a written Initial Decision.
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