Oct 2, 2012 5:46 PM
A former jail attendant who sued Quogue Village Police and village officials in 2011, alleging that they ignored her complaints that she had been sexually harassed by a part-time police officer who left a sexually explicit note inside her village home, has reached a monetary settlement with the defendants.
The village has agreed to pay Charlotte Lander, who quit her part-time job at the jail in June 2010 after a decade of employment, a sum of $16,500, according to a copy of the settlement that was finalized last week. The sum covers three years of salary she would have made if she had not quit her job following the incident, according to her attorney, Michael McClellan of the firm Perini and Hoerger in Hauppauge.
“All I ever wanted was to be protected,”... more
The village has agreed to pay Charlotte Lander, who quit her part-time job at the jail in June 2010 after a decade of employment, a sum of $16,500, according to a copy of the settlement that was finalized last week. The sum covers three years of salary she would have made if she had not quit her job following the incident, according to her attorney, Michael McClellan of the firm Perini and Hoerger in Hauppauge.
“All I ever wanted was to be protected,”... more
More importantly, she won against Quogue, an unusual event -- and against one of their sworn officers who was supposed to be protecting and serving, not stalking and harassing!
Management 101 - Any manager in the private sector knows the largest liability most often is not the actions of his or her employees but rather how a supervisor handles a complaint. I can’t tell if this was handled with just plain ignorance or incredible arrogance, I am guessing ...more from both articles, it is the latter. (“love letter” indeed!!!) The Village of Quogue is truly lucky in this instance that this poor woman was most concerned with just having her voice heard as I am sure she could have sought a far greater sum should she have wanted. From the published letter in this same edition of the Press, it seems she received what she was looking for - a simple apology from the supervisor and manager who so mishandled her complaint. Too bad it looks like it took her almost three years and the folks at the EEOC to get that for her. I wonder how much the Village spent in legal fees on this mismanagement and if they are looking to hold any one of these two accountable.