A former corrections officer for the Essex County Jail is taking her former employers to court, claiming she was discriminated against and fired after she contracted long-haul COVID-19.
The former officer states in court papers she tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020 and went out on leave in accordance with the jail’s protocol at the time.
When she attempted to obtain workers’ compensation insurance benefits, her employment was terminated in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, according to the suit filed in February 2023.
The woman also claims she was sexually harassed by a sergeant at the facility who later suspended her without pay from her job before she was terminated.
Essex County officials did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Court records show discovery in the case is set to end in June, then a trial date will be set. The woman’s attorney did not return a call seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The woman said in court papers she contracted COVID-19 while working at the jail in March 2020 and she tested positive the next month. The woman needed care from six physician specialists who placed her “on a large number of medications,” according to the suit.
The woman says she was out on leave for 10 months when a sergeant called her on Feb. 10, 2021, and ordered her to come to the jail. She told the sergeant she could not drive due to her health, so he sent officers to her home to drive her to the jail and escort her into the building, according to the suit.
The woman claims she was interrogated by the sergeant, who claimed she had violated workplace rules and regulations. A lieutenant was in the room recording the interrogation at the time, according to the complaint.
“Plaintiff was berated, yelled at, accused of engagement in undue familiarity and was told that she was now suspended without pay,” the suit says. Undue familiarity can mean failing to maintain an appropriate professional relationship with an employer, according to Lawinsider.com.
The lawsuit claims the woman was falsely accused of workplace violations that “were said to have happened in 2019, and in a location where plaintiff did not work.”
She was served that day with disciplinary charges, and later filed a complaint alleging retaliation, stating she was being punished for seeking workers’ compensation benefits, according to the suit.
The officer was eventually terminated in violation of both workers’ compensation laws and state laws against discrimination, the lawsuit said.
“Plaintiff was treated in an inhumane way and while out on lengthy sick leave she was required to call her job on a daily basis to announce that she would be out sick for her shift,” the suit says.
The lawsuit also alleges sexual harassment, claiming some male supervisors failed to recognize the job she performed and “focused instead on trying to date subordinates.”
The sergeant who allegedly berated the officer had once asked her out on a date, which she refused, according to the lawsuit.
When the sergeant later interrogated the woman, he allegedly “banged on the table with his fist and told plaintiff that she could now ride off into the sunset to marry (him) in Jamaica,” the suit alleges.
“Plaintiff was subjected to other instances of sexual harassment in the workplace and knew that if she went along with the sexual advances, she would avoid the wrath of supervisory personnel,” the suit alleges.
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
