N.J. pays out millions in sexual harassment cases
Soon after joining New Jersey’s corrections officer academy, Gina Marie DiPasquale was taken aback by what she saw as blatant harassment of female trainees.
DiPasquale, an instructor at the Sea Girt academy, complained to her superiors about sexually offensive cadences used in training, verbal obscenities, inappropriate touching of female trainees by male instructors and other issues, according to court documents.
As a result, she was called a “psycho-b—” and “snitch” by co-workers. She was also subject to on-the-job retaliation, sex and gender discrimination, sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, according to court documents.
Fed up, she filed suit against the state in 2005 and resigned. Last year, she agreed to accept $415,000 from the state to settle the case. As part of the settlement,