Second harassment lawsuit filed against Montclair and town manager Stafford

Juliet Lee, Montclair’s former deputy town clerk, has filed a lawsuit against Montclair and Township Manager Tim Stafford alleging verbal abuse, humiliation and harassment, just two weeks after township CFO Padjama Rao filed a similar suit against the town.

Stafford’s abuse was “so outrageous and coercive” it forced Lee to retire early from her position, according to the complaint, and calls for punitive and compensatory damages and legal fees.

Lee, 64, deputy clerk since 2013, performed the duties of head clerk for 18 months after the retirement of Linda Wanat, and had applied to Stafford for that position. She would have become the first African-American clerk in town history.

Stafford’s “traumatizing” behavior forced her to retire to “avoid further damage to her physical and emotional health,” and she never received the title.

Once, Stafford called her into his conference room and, berating her in front of 10 employees, had her trash can brought in and ordered her to search through it in front of the group to retrieve some papers, according to the complaint.

None of the Montclair officials present intervened to challenge Stafford’s verbal abuse and humiliation of Lee and, the complaint reads: “Senior leadership of the Montclair administration witnessed other incidents of Stafford’s conduct against Lee and did nothing.”

Stafford's attorney issued a statement that reads, "Same law firm, similar ill-considered allegations and similar jocose claims as in the first. Just another example of a disgruntled former employee jumping on the proverbial litigation bandwagon, looking for a quick payout at the expense of Montclair residents."

Last week, the council voted to put Stafford on paid administrative leave and launch an investigation into the allegations.

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But residents at the town council meeting questioned why Stafford was not being fired outright, since an investigation concluded in August by the town’s affirmative action officer supported Rao’s claims of a hostile work environment. That report was not shared with the public or even most of the council members until it was leaked to the press last week.

Mayor Sean Spiller issued a statement on Oct. 20 in which he said that Rao’s allegations hadn’t ever been brought to the council’s attention.

On Monday, Councilor Peter Yacobellis called on the council to rescind the “woefully inadequate” resolution to place Stafford on paid leave and craft a broader one to address “what’s becoming a litany of complaints against Mr. Stafford.”

Both Lee and Rao allege that Stafford singled out women for abuse.

At the town hall meeting, residents mentioned that the toxic environment created by Stafford was a main reason for the departure from the township of beloved senior services director Katie York.

Lee alleges that Stafford would compel her to be present while he verbally abused other female employees. Once, he called Lee and a female colleague to his office and began to scream at the other woman, then dismissed them, the complaint reads. “There was no reason for Lee’s presence in his office other than to be subjected to his verbal abuse toward the other female employee.”

Yacobellis said that Spiller supported Stafford, not the women. On several occasions, he said, Spiller approached council members to “discuss building a file of examples that could be used to pursue disciplinary action” against Rao.

Spiller said, “While there are serious issues with the veracity of the reported claims of one of my colleagues, I abide by the requirements regarding the treatment of confidential information and therefore it would be highly inappropriate for me to comment on any personnel matters or any ongoing litigation.”

In addition to harassment, Rao's suit charges retaliation for whistleblowing activities, which carry a greater penalty. The former CFO details several instances where she says Stafford punished her for bringing financial and legal improprieties of the council to light.

One of these was her removal from the finance committee because she was “difficult to work with.”

The day she was removed, Sept. 28, was the same day the council approved a highly controversial agreement to provide firefighting services to Glen Ridge.

Rao had issued a report concluding that the deal with Glen Ridge was financially a bad one for Montclair, but her report was not given to council members prior to the vote.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Montclair NJ sued again in harassment suit against manager