Police Officer Sues NJ Township for Sex-Based Discrimination

A police officer in Wayne, New Jersey has sued the township for alleged sex-based discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed in Passaic County Superior Court. Patrol Officer Christie Ohlendorf says she was harassed for years and repeatedly passed over for promotion because of her gender, Isabel Birritteri reports for TAPInto Wayne. Ohlendorf alleges in her complaint that Department Internal Affairs sought her termination through disciplinary proceedings based on allegations of insubordination and other charges that Ohlendorf says were “fallacious, misleading, false and unsupported.” 

Wayne Township Attorney Matt Giacobbe called Ohlendorf’s claims “baseless allegations.” Ohlendorf alleges that she was asked about having children in her interviews for the job, was made to work with a town contractor again after she filed a report on the contractor’s inappropriate sexual advances toward her and was routinely dropped in personnel rankings whenever she was up for a promotion. The complaint also alleges that the Wayne Police Department has never promoted a female officer to a ranking position.