Employee Sues NJ HR Commission Over Alleged Racism
CAIRNDEN, NJ - A municipal employee in South Jersey has sued Gloucester Township and members of its Human Relations Commission for alleged racial harassment.
The lawsuit filed by Steven Brodie Jr. in U.S. District Court also names past and present local officials, including the entire commission, the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, N.J., reported.
In court papers, Brodie accuses Mary Dorazo, a member of the commission, of covering up racial incidents to protect her son. Michael Dorazo Jr., who allegedly locked Brodie in a storage cage in 2007 while both were working for the Gloucester Department of Public Works, is awaiting trial on charges connected to the incident.
Brodie says Michael Dorazo and David Pomaniek, who has already been convicted of bias harassment and other charges, made racially charged remarks to him. Both men are also named as defendants.
"You throw a banana in there and he goes right in," Pomaniek allegedly said.
The lawsuit says Gloucester officials failed to train employees properly or to investigate complaints of racial incidents. Brodie's lawyer, Charles Gibbs, in an e-mailed statement said his client never even got an apology.
