BRUNSWICK, Maine — A Brunswick police officer has filed a lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court charging her former department, chief and several other officers, as well as the town’s fire department and chief, with sexual harassment and discrimination.
Kerry Wolongevicz, 35, filed the lawsuit earlier this month alleging the defendants created and perpetuated a hostile work environment with discriminatory and retaliatory policies, according to court documents.
The suit alleges that police officers in Manlius, New York, spoke graphically and repeatedly about having sex on and off duty, and that one made vulgar parts about her anatomy.
Wolongevicz alleges that one officer made specific comments about having sexual relations with a drunk student at nearby Le Moyne College, and that when Wolongevicz asked if anyone had asked the college about any reports of rape and then asked to speak to a town supervisor, Police Chief Francis Marlowe “angrily” told Wolongevicz that she would be disciplined if she talked to anyone about the matter.
Wolongevicz, who began working as an officer in the Syracuse suburb in 2008, alleges that when she complained to a supervisor, she was referred to a therapist who met with her for work environment-related stress.
At one point, Wolongevicz’s New York attorney, A.J. Bosman, alleges, a police sergeant “failed to provide critical backup [to her] causing the abandoned pursuit of a reckless motorcyclist in violation of vehicle and traffic law,” but told other officers that he would have backed up any male officers.
Bosman did not immediately return a phone call on Tuesday.
Wolongevicz alleges she was denied and/or delayed trainings for five years while male officers with the same or less experience were trained and granted assignments, and that other female officers also filed complaints about harassment they experienced. Wolongevicz said the department failed to adequately intervene.
Wolongevicz also alleges that when a former boyfriend and town firefighter violated an order of protection and came to her workplace, police failed to enforce the order and she became the subject of an internal affairs investigation.
The suit alleges the defendants violated Wolongevicz’s human rights by harassing her, subjecting her to a hostile work environment because of her gender, retaliated against her for opposing the discrimination, and caused intentional and/or reckless infliction of emotional stress.
Wolongevicz seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury trial.