Fired Edison police officer's unlawful termination lawsuit tossed again

EDISON – A state appellate court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against the Edison Police Department by a former officer who alleged she was stalked by fellow officers, was wrongfully terminated and was a victim of retaliation and discrimination.

Valerie Mader argued in her appeal that the lower court erred in dismissing her claims of gender discrimination and retaliation under the state’s law against discrimination.

Mader, who joined the department in December 2014 after nine years with the Rutgers Police Department, was fired in 2018 after the department’s psychologist deemed her psychologically unfit for duty, according to court papers.

In her lawsuit, Mader detailed a pattern of alleged harassment that started two months after she joined the department, starting with text messages to her then fiancé and now husband. The lawsuit said the texts were becoming "more frequent, more offensive and disturbing" because they included false allegations of her sexual involvement with her co-workers.

The harassment, the lawsuit charged, also included offensive phone calls and a graphic and offensive letter delivered to her mailbox, which said she was "sleeping her way to the top."

"(Mader) began to feel like she was being stalked by men in her department," the lawsuit alleged.

Mader met with Police Chief Thomas Bryan in January 2016 to discuss the harassment and the matter was forwarded to the department's Internal Affairs Office, according to court papers. Mader was transferred to a desk job, though still in uniform and authorized to carry her on-duty weapon, the court papers say.

The lawsuit said that Mader and her fiancé cooperated with the Internal Affairs investigation. However, while the investigation was ongoing, Mader began hearing comments that she and her fiancé were allegedly "throwing cops under the bus," according to the lawsuit, and that another officer was reading her emails.

Mader alleged she began to believe that the investigation was diverting attention from the police department. At times, the lawsuit said, the investigators drove her to her tears, "making her feel victimized over and over again."

Mader met with the chief again in June 2016 to discuss her worries about going back on the road because she was also concerned "officers might not back her up on a call," according to the lawsuit. Mader also said she had started seeing a counselor, the lawsuit said.

Ten months later, in April 2017, Bryan told her that the Internal Affairs investigation had concluded there was not enough evidence to support the allegations, according to the lawsuit. He then ordered her to undergo a fitness for duty examination because of her behavior in reporting the harassment the previous year and during the investigation, the lawsuit said.

Mader was sent to the department's psychologist who, in May 2017, found her "psychologically unfit for duty" and placed her on forced medical leave because of generalized anxiety disorder, according to court papers. It was recommended that Mader undergo at least six months of counseling, and the police department confiscated her weapon, the court papers say.

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The department's actions, Mader argued in the lawsuit, were "unlawful retaliation" for making the harassment complaint.

After a counselor wrote a letter saying Mader had successfully completed treatment, the department sent her to another psychologist, who concluded Mader was "no longer fit to be a police officer in Edison," the lawsuit said. The psychologist accused Mader of "over-reporting" the harassment, according to court papers.

Mader then obtained an independent evaluation from another psychologist which concluded she was fit for duty, the lawsuit said.

In May 2018, after the department's second psychological examination, the chief sent her a notice that she was being terminated as a police officer, according to the lawsuit.

In its ruling, the appellate court wrote there was not sufficient evidence of Mader's allegation that the psychologists were biased and conspired with the Edison Police Department. The court also ruled Mader's retaliation claim was flawed.

"(Mader’s) discrimination and retaliation claims are too speculative to survive summary judgment review given (she) produced no evidence to show the (fitness for duty evaluations) that led to the adverse employment actions were incorrect,” the appellate court wrote. “We add that without a principal (Law Against Discrimination) violation by the employer, there can be no liability for aiding and abetting.”

Mader and her husband refused to turn over their cellphones, preventing investigators from recovering the pertinent text messages which had been deleted, the appellate court wrote.

In addition, some allegations were also deemed unfounded because Mader and her husband gave inconsistent accounts, the appellate court wrote.

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: Fired Edison police officer's unlawful termination suit tossed again