Branchburg settles retired female cop's discrimination suit for $325,000

BRANCHBURG - The township has agreed to pay $325,000 to settle a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by a female former police officer.

Branchburg settled the case with Christine Auleta earlier this year, according to papers obtained by Transparency NJ, a website dedicated to bringing legal documents involving public entities to public attention.

Auleta will receive two-thirds of that amount while her law firm, Smith, Mullin of Montclair, will receive the remaining third.

As part of the settlement, Branchburg does not admit liability and Auleta agrees not to seek employment with the township. The township and Auleta also agree not to make any disparaging comments about each other.

Auleta, who left the department in May 2019 after 21 years, filed suit in October 2020, alleging she was the victim of retaliation for reporting sexual harassment within the department.

Auleta was the second female police officer to file suit against the township. In February 2019, Kate Proscia-Berger filed suit, claiming she was the victim of a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

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Proscia-Berger settled the lawsuit in March 2021 for $220,000.

A third lawsuit brought by retired officers Peter Crisafulli and Corey Floyd is still pending in federal court. They allege they were forced to retire because their rights were violated in an internal affairs investigation into Proscia-Berger's allegations that became a "chaos grenade."

Auleta alleged in the nine-page suit that she was discriminated based on her gender throughout her career.

Auleta's suit claimed she "was passed over for promotions time and time again while male officers with less experience were made (her) superiors." Auleta was "finally" promoted to sergeant in 2015.

In the lawsuit, Auleta says Proscia-Berger, the only other female officer at the time in the department, told her about sexual harassment in the department in August 2018. Auleta then reported those allegations to former Chief David Young.

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office assumed management of the police department on July 1, 2019 after Young retired. The prosecutor's officer still manages the department.

Auleta, Proscia-Berger and a department secretary all told Young that they feared retaliation for reporting the actions of three other officers. Auleta says in the suit that "she considered sleeping with her off-duty weapon out of fear" that one of the three male officers would come to her house.

The prosecutor's office and Internal affairs opened investigations and Young told the three male officers that Auleta had reported their conduct, identifying her as a whistleblower, according to the suit.

The suit also says the three male officers were not suspended, put on administrative leave, transferred or separated from the female officers. "Such failure to protect (the women) mounted to negligent and willful violation of (the department's) obligation ... to promptly remediate sexual discrimination."

Auleta then suffered "swift" retaliation, according to the lawsuit. The three officers refused to talk to her and cooperate with her during day-to-day duties. "This placed (Auleta) in great danger, because they would be non-communicative in the event she encountered a dangerous situation," the suit alleges.

For example, the suit charges, Auleta performed a motor vehicle stop and discovered the driver had a warrant. She asked for backup, but no officer arrived.

In September 2018, according to the lawsuit, Auleta was subjected to a "bogus and retaliatory" internal investigation for "undermining" the probe into the three officers. She was cleared of the charges within a week and a half.

In January 2018, Auleta told Young that she would like to be considered for a promotion and if she was not promoted, she would like to stay on the day shift. But Auleta was placed on the night shift under the command of one of the three officers.

That placed her in "grave danger," according to the lawsuit, and Young refused her request.

On April 29, 2019, Auleta, at the age of 53, decided to leave the department because she "could no longer tolerate the danger the chief and the department had placed her in, in retaliation of her having complained of sexual harassment."

State records indicate that Auleta receives an annual pension of $69,083.28.

Auleta was represented by Smith Mullin, which has brought several high-profile sex discrimination cases including former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson's suit against her boss, the late Roger Ailes.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Branchburg settles retired female cop's discrimination suit for $325K