U.S. Attorney Resolves Employment Discrimination Suit With The Town/Village Of Harrison, New York, And Its Fire Department, Requiring Defendants To Adopt Wide-Ranging Policy Changes And Pay $425,000

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced that the United States has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that the TOWN/VILLAGE OF HARRISON (“HARRISON”) and its Fire Department (the “HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT”) discriminated against a female firefighter on the basis of her sex and retaliated against her in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The Consent Decree was approved yesterday by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As part of the settlement, the Town of Harrison has admitted that it never took any disciplinary action against a male firefighter who ultimately pled guilty to harassing a female firefighter.  That type of response to illegal workplace harassment is abhorrent and undermines citizens’ faith in their local government.  Pursuant to the Consent Decree, the Town of Harrison is required to implement comprehensive policy changes.  I want to commend the bravery of Angela Bommarito, who fought back against discrimination and made this Consent Decree possible.  This Office will always stand with victims of violations of our nation’s civil rights laws.”

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said: “All employees deserve a workplace free from sexual harassment and must be able to report harassment without fear of retaliation by employers.  The Justice Department will continue to vigorously pursue all cases to ensure that all workers are guaranteed the rights and protections promised by our Nation’s laws.”

As part of the Consent Decree, HARRISON and the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT made factual admissions, including the following:

• In May 2015, the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT had no active female firefighters.  In June 2015, Angela Bommarito joined the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT, together with one other female volunteer firefighter.

• HARRISON and the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT ultimately became aware that after Bommarito ended a relationship with Henry Mohr, a senior firefighter, Mohr repeatedly called her, followed her (including while driving a Fire Department official vehicle), and repeatedly drove by her house.  In addition, Bommarito complained to certain members of the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT leadership about Mohr’s harassment.

• In January 2016, Bommarito went to the HARRISON Police Department and filed a report against Mohr.  HARRISON’S then-Police Chief met with Mohr and told him that he wanted “to make sure this whole thing dies” and get Mohr “out of this whole situation.”  The Police Chief said to Mohr that Bommarito’s presence at the firehouse was a “temptation,” which was “hard to resist sometimes.”

• The then-Police Chief also met with Bommarito.  During their meeting, the Police Chief suggested that he could arrest Bommarito for her presentation of what the Police Chief claimed was incomplete and false information to the Police Department regarding her relationship with Mohr.  The Police Chief prepared a resignation letter for Bommarito, which stated that she would resign from the Fire Department.  Bommarito signed the resignation letter.

• HARRISON and the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT never took any disciplinary action against Mohr.  In May 2016, Mohr was arrested for his harassment of Bommarito.  Later that year, Mohr pled guilty to harassment in the second degree, in violation of New York Penal Law 240.26.03.

Under the Consent Decree approved by the Court, HARRISON and the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT must maintain an anti-discrimination policy that includes prohibitions on discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation, as well as provisions that require objective fact-finding investigations into complaints of policy violations.  HARRISON and its FIRE DEPARTMENT must also provide training to relevant personnel on prohibited employment practices and corresponding investigation procedures.  The Consent Decree further requires HARRISON and the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT to provide information to the United States regarding complaints and investigations relating to charges of discrimination while the Consent Decree remains in effect.  The Consent Decree also requires that HARRISON maintain recent improvements to the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT firehouse, which have provided additional facilities and features for female firefighters.  Finally, the Consent Decree requires the HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT and HARRISON Police Department to maintain policies relating to use of HARRISON FIRE DEPARTMENT vehicles and limitations on the disclosure of non-public sensitive information obtained by HARRISON Police Department employees in connection with criminal investigations.  

As part of the resolution, the Defendants have also agreed to pay a total of $425,000, which will consist of an up-front cash payment to Bommarito and a sum to fund the purchase of an annuity contract to make future periodic payments to Bommarito as well as payments to her attorney for reasonable attorneys’ fees.  This is one of the largest payments by a local government in an employment discrimination case brought by the United States on behalf of a single individual.

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Mr. Williams thanked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) for its initial investigation of Bommarito’s charge filed with the EEOC.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles S. Jacob is in charge of the case.