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GayPASG NOTE: This came as a shock to me as I did
not know it had been filed. I submitted my name to the Governor to be a
commissioner on the Division of Civil Rights after observing the Director and
becoming convinced he was going to turn the Division around and actually
implement the Amendment to the NJ Law Against Discrimination including Sexual or
Affectional Orientation. The Amendment was signed in January 1992 and
still had not been included in the code for the state school system.
The remarks from the employees were interesting in that they had never been
worked so hard and wished the Director would lighten up a bit but most of them
were proud of what he was doing and rolled up their sleeves and became part of
the action.
I had dedicated my retirement to work for basic Civil and Human Rights before I
retired from Federal Civil Service and had no intentions of working within the
system until I observed the progress the Director had made and like most of the
employees, I am proud to be supporting him. I was sworn in as Chair of the
NJ Civil Rights Commission on April 11, 2006. (See
Event Photos)
Civil rights director
accused of
racial, sexual
prejudice
BY RICK HEPP,
Star-Ledger (nj.com) from the Web, April 12, 2006
The head of the state Division on
Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing New Jersey's anti-bias laws,
has been accused of discriminating against black employees and unfairly
promoting whites, Latinos and gays ahead of them.
In a rare complaint involving two high-level state officials, Civil Rights
Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo is accused of harassing a black, heterosexual
assistant director because of his race and sexual orientation.
Assistant Director Philip Freeman, the division's highest-ranking
African-American, who oversees the bureau of prevention and community relations,
on Feb. 3, filed a notice of intent to sue the state. The notice, obtained
by The Star-Ledger, alleges a "continuing violation of the New Jersey law
against discrimination" and says the state failed to investigate an internal
discrimination complaint Freeman filed in December 2004.
The notice of intent to sue, which New Jersey law requires as a first step in
litigation involving a state agency, does not include details of Vespa-Papaleo's
alleged discrimination. But Freeman laid out his case for a state
investigator probing Freeman's internal complaint in a March 2 memo obtained by
The Star-Ledger.
In that memo, Freeman alleges Vespa-Papaleo stripped him of many of his duties,
paid him less than white colleagues and retaliated against him after Freeman
complained.
Freeman in his memo described Vespa-Papaleo as a "white Latino who is perceived
to be gay." He contends the director has hired, promoted and given special
treatment to whites, Latinos and gays ahead of black employees.
Freeman's memo also says Vespa-Papaleo allegedly is having a romantic
relationship with a gay employee. He claims the director took that
employee, rather than Freeman, to a Miami equal-opportunity conference, where
they accepted an award on Freeman's behalf. It said another employee, who
is white, also attended.
"I have had most of my primary duties taken from me by Director Vespa-Papaleo
and reassigned to white, Latino and gay lesbian employees," Freeman noted in the
memo. "Other African-Americans have been similarly denied salary
increases, and have been subjected to disparate treatment."
Vespa-Papaleo would not comment. Representatives from the Attorney
General's Office, which is investigating Freeman's internal complaint, declined
to comment, saying the allegations deal with personnel matters. Freeman
referred questions to his attorney, David Patterson, who would not comment until
a lawsuit is filed. He did not say when that would occur.
Tapped by former Gov. James E. McGreevey in June 2002 to head the Division on
Civil Rights, Vespa- Papaleo may be best known for banning Ladies Night in bars
two years ago because it violated the state's anti-discrimination laws.
Vespa-Papaleo, 35, has been lauded for his work to make voting booths accessible
to those with disabilities, to protect minorities against housing discrimination
and to force movie theaters to cater to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Freeman, 50, of Camden, has worked at the Division on Civil Rights for 25 years
and took over as assistant director in November 2003 after serving for two years
as acting assistant director. He currently serves as president of Camden's
school board and is the former president of the Camden zoning board.
Freeman alleges in the memo that when Vespa-Papaleo took over the division, he
was reluctant to hire him as assistant director until Freeman got letters of
recommendation from powerful state Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) and Deputy
Attorney General Jeffrey C. Burstein, who had overseen the civil rights division
before Vespa-Papaleo was hired.
In his memo, Freeman alleges Vespa-Papaleo paid him less than a white assistant
director and other lower-level managers who have less responsibility.
According to 2006 state payroll records, Freeman earns $78,152 a year while
deputy executive director Gary LoCassio, who is white and oversees the bureaus
of enforcement and policy, earns $103,967. Seven regional managers -- four
of whom are white and three of whom are black -- each make $83,760; an eighth
manager who is white makes $80,883.
Freeman in his memo alleges that when Vespa-Papaleo learned of the complaint, he
issued Freeman a five-page counseling memo for "minor mistakes" and assigned
Freeman's state-owned vehicle to a lower-level manager.
At least two black employees have filed similar internal complaints against
Vespa-Papaleo. Amanda Koon, special assistant to the director, said she
filed a race and sexual orientation complaint two years ago against
Vespa-Papaleo alleging differential treatment. And special investigator
Juanita Jenkins, who managed the housing unit, said she filed a race and age
discrimination complaint when her duties were changed.
Koon, who no longer works for the division, said her complaint is unresolved.
Jenkins said the state found her complaint lacked probable cause. Koon and
Jenkins contend many black employees feel the director discriminates against
them.
"As a whole, they feel they are not getting anywhere," Jenkins said. "There are
other people who have felt that way but have not filed."
The Attorney General's Office would not comment about these complaints.
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