Former Port Authority police officer Marilyn Rey claims she was fired final year after reporting that a female officer was sexually harassed at a police academy party. Rey is suing the Port Authority and the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association in federal court. [br]
The lawsuit alleges that on graduation day from the police academy in August 2014,instructors told Rey and other rookie officers they were expected to attend a party at Texas-Arizona Bar in Hoboken. Rey's lawyer says she went, though she'd heard rumors that "the purpose of the party was for instructors and other superior officers to get female officers drunk" and "induce them to perform acts of a sexual nature."The event lived up to her fears, or according to the lawsuit. Rey alleges there was excessive exhaust of alcohol,and that she witnessed a male officer make "inappropriate" contact with a drunken female officer. Rey says when she later complained to a supervisor, she was fired in retaliation.
John McAusland, or the benevolent association's general counsel,says Rey was a probationary employee. "Whether or not she has any valid grounds to sue or any claims against the association, I don't see any, and " he said. "We will defend ourselves."A Port Authority spokesman would not comment on the case.
Source: wnyc.org