New York City Taxpayers may be surprised to find their wallets a whole lot lighter after having to pay a significant settlement to a second female NYPD cop who alleges she had been sexually harassed by NYPD lieutenant Jason Margolis.
NYPD Officer Michele Alexander has been awarded $175,000 to settle her federal lawsuit which claims she had been sexually blackmailed by Lt. Jason Margolis.
Alexander who is 43 years old, claimed that Lt. Margolis who is the former president of the Shomrim Society of Jewish police officers in Jamaica, Queens took reprisal against her after she notified the NYPD’s office of Equal Employment Opportunity which examined her complaints further.
Court papers that had been filed in Brooklyn Federal Court by Alexander declared “Lt. Margolis continued to ask me out stating: ‘If I learn to play the game, all my troubles would go away,”
The courts finalized Alexander’s settlement this week, which follows another settlement paid last March to Police Officer Jazmia Inserillo, who made accusations of Margolis coming on to her while boasting about his connections to other officers in command positions since at the time he held the title of president of Shomrim.
The city awarded Inserillo $110,000 in addition to Margolis handing over $2,500 of his own funds.
The NYPD investigation concluded that there were no violations on behalf of Margolis in Alexander’s case; however, ten of his vacation days were reduced and he was mandated to attend a “professionalism in the workplace” seminar.
At this time, Alexander has since retired from the force, but she did indicate in her lawsuit that Margolis’ unacceptable behavior began some years ago, back in 2009. At that time, his sexual advances began when he told her that his wife would be out of town than invited her to come over to his house.
Allegedly Margolis refused to accept her rejections toward him and made further advances a few days later asking: “’What is the problem? Is it that you don’t date White guys or have you ever had a White man…Is it because I am married?” purported the court documents.
Inserillo also alleged that Margolis requested she pay a visit to his home also when his wife was away and pointed out that “If you play the game, I’ll take care of you.”
Over the next two years, Alexander says that she was punished by Margolis who made amends to her schedule, distanced her from her regular patrol partner, concocted discipline, refused to give her overtime and failed to accommodate her after she was hurt on the job.
In a strange twist of events, Alexander previously testified as a witness for the city against a fellow female officer at the 103rd Precinct who had accused Deputy Chief Michael Blake, commanding officer at the time, of sexual harassment. Alexander said the cop was lying and she further denied having a sexual relationship with Blake.
In regards to the $175,000 settlement won by Ms. Alexander, her attorney indicated that she is pleased to have resolved the matter and hopes that her case will serve to assist the New York City Police Department and the City of New York in taking corrective measures on how they investigate, respond to, and remedy police officer complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation at the workplace so that other police officers are not subjected to the same.”
New York City Sexual Harassment Lawyers Serving Employees Rights in NY, NJ, PA and FL
Whether you work for a police department or somewhere else, if you believe you have been the victim of NYC workplace sexual harassment or discrimination, our team of New York City sexual harassment lawyers strongly urge you to reach out to our law firm for a free consultation. You have every right under the law. You do not need to accept working in a hostile job environment.
The sexual harassment attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC handle a multitude of employment discrimination cases that involve sexual harassment in Manhattan and the greater New York City area. We also represent employees sexual harassment cases in New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Miami Sexual Harassment is gender-based discrimination and is illegal. For further information, please feel free to call us at 800-807-2209 for a free consultation or click here to schedule a free consultation.
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