Lavern Sanders v New Jersey Department of Children and Families

7/23/2019 Lavern Sanders v New Jersey Department of Children and Families

1/15

LO

d

FilE .

(tijStliMEfl

E R \ I I C F ~

LOUIS A. ZAYAS, ESQ.

L W OP.FICES

OF LOUIS

A. ZA.

lAS,

L.L.C.

890 I Kennedy Boulevard, s h Floor

AR 0 6 ZU1J

SUPERIOR COURT OF

N6V E R S ~

COUNTY OF HUDSON

North Bergen, N.J.

07047

(201)

977,2900 .

Counsel

for

the

Plaintiff

LAVERN SANDERS

Plaimiff,

v.

DIVISION

OF CHILDREN

AND FAMIL

l

t;:(lRVfy-ES

and

JONATBAN

RElD

Defendants.

ClV L

DIVISION

:i

) SUPERJOR

COURT OF

NEW JERSEY

) LAW DIVISION: HUDSON COl)NTY

)

.

Docket No.: , ;

// / .6 /3

)

)

COMPL INT

)

The

Plaintiff,

LAVERN SANDERS,

by

and

through her

attorney LOUIS A.

ZAYAS

of the

LAW OFFICES OF LOUIS A. ZAYAS,

L.L,C,

alleges

the

following

based on information and

belief:

FACTS

I PlalntlffLavem Sanders is a female resident

of

Jersey City, he County of

Hudson,

nnd the Stllte

of

New Jersey,

2.

Defendant Division of Children

and

Family Services

(hereinaftel

"DYFS") is a public entity

organized by the

virtue of New Jersey law. Defendant DYFS

is sue


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4. In

2006, the DYFS hired

Sanders

as Family Service

Specialist.

At

all

times, Sanders performed her

job

duties satisfactorily.

5. During Sanders

first three

years

as

Family Service Specialist at DYFS, she

received.

good

performance evaluations and had no issues with any of the supervisors.

6. In

2007,

Sanders

began

a

1:omantic relationship

with one o

her department

supervisors,

Jonathan

Reid. After

a few months Sanders en.ded the relationship.

Reid

did

lOt sit well with the brake up and continuo1.1sly

insisted

they got

back

together, When

Sanders refused,

Reid retaliated against her by falsely accusing her. of credit card

fraud

and identity theft.

7. On October

10,

2008,

Sanders

was arrested

at her job for

false

allegations

made by Mr

Reid and on October

24,

2008, Sanders

was suspended

fro.in work

without

pay due to the criminal charges filed against her.

8. On

March

5, 2009,

while the

criminal

case

was still

peDding and Sanders

was supposed to be

presumed

irmocent, Sanders received

another disciplinary

action

from

for ~ o n d u t of unbecoming of a public employee

. 9.

On .March

23, 2009,

Sllnders

had a bench ttial and was acquitted

on all

charges. However,

on

April

7, 2009, DYFS

terminated Sanders

for failure to request a

hearing

regarding the disciplimuy

actions given to

her

for an

unresolved criminal

case.

lO, On July 2009, Sanders

had

depat1mental

he.1ring

regarding her

-lennination. Sander

was

offered her job back with retroactive pay

from March

2009.

Sanders

refused the offer because she

was

entitled

to get pay

frum the

fist

time

she

was

-

suspended

and

the

case was scheduled for

Arbitration.

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II.

On

December 30, 2009, DYFS contacted Sanders via telephone to

reinstate. her emplo)'1llent

as

o January

4,

2010, with

retroactive

pay from my

suspension

date.

12.

On

Jl\JluaJ'Y 14, 2010, Sanders retu111ed to work and before being assigned

ta.bel: department sh l was given yet another disciplinary action pending termination and

was

suspended for

having a s\lspended driver s license.

l3, Llpon

Sandern'

return,

DYFS' supervisors

began retaliating against

Sanders by creating a stressful and hostile work environment, isslting baseless

disciplinary

~ i o n s ;

denying

her training

and

the

possibility

o

getting

a

SJ.>RU

position

and by .trying to get her fired .

. 14.

On

t\pri\2010, Case Worker, Pam Miller, rep 'imanded Sanders in two

occasions

due to

the dress

code.

Although Sanders had been working at D'{l'S

for

approximately four

yeais

without

having this

issue, Miller stated that

Sanders

did not

dress properly.

15. . Ap.ril 29, 2010, Yolanda

Sterling

5ent an

e-mll.il

to everyone n

the

-department QXept .Sanders, regarding an opening for an investigatoi position {SPRU

.

positiJJn), This

is, a position

for

investigators

who

want to work after

5

p.m.

lli d

weekends. SPRU workers sometimes make more

on

this second job then their first

.regular morning jobs.

rt

is a great opportunity which was purposely denied to Sanders.

16. :M,ay 17,2010,

Sanders found

out about the SPRU position andsubmitted

her

resume to Ms. Sterling

to

be

considered.

When Sanders Clllled

to

find out i

Ms.

Sterling bad

received her resume she said she never

did

because here-moil was

down.

-

Two

days later Sanders resent

the

e-mail and I followed up Sterling who told her that her

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resume was received late

and

I would

not

be considered for the job. Weeks later other

employee

r e e i v ~ letters

to

begin training.

\7.

On

May 18,2010, Loric

Sanders, L


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to. wl'ite

.false

m t m ~ t s stating that she had g Ye l the

vehicle

to Sanders.

Another

clear

attempt

io get.Sanders fiw: .

22. On Npvember 8 2010, Sanders received a memo from supervisor Tyson

Moon,

saying

that per Labor Relations, Sanders wus not t have any contact with

- Mr a.s a 16 year

old

who used to be on Sanders C ~ U e

load

and took a

like

to her.

Althougb was

no

longer on

Sanders'

caselond,

he

communicated with her

,;,d

she had

i lterest

ln

adopting

him.

. Sanders boyfriend

decided

to adopt Mr.

-

On December 6, 20

I

0,

111omas

Hooten, C:asework Supervisor,

told

Sanders boyfriend

that she previously had

nnd currently

~ a s

pending

charges against

her

and

that the child T

ould

not

be

left llle wiU1

Sal)ders

at any time. This defaming inrormation

was plaCed

into the child

case

re

waiting for

you

to mess UP,

so \vlty nre

you

giving them ammo".

25. On January 2011, Sanders' doctor decided

to give her

short tenn disability

. undlfehruary 28,

20J I How


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signed

it

thl}m on

February 8,

2012.

Sanders' doctor

indicated

on the

final

document that .

Sanders. could possibly return to work on April 4, 2011,

. .

27.

February

28,

2011,

Trisha King from Human

Resources, terminated

Sanders'

pay

stating sl)e had requested

for

lea-ve

without pay.

Sanders

never

made such

request ..

28.

On March

30, 2011, Sanders received a disciplinary notice saying that she

was

being terminated effective March 7,

2011 for

not returning

to work on

February 28,

2011.

29

On April

I,

20 ll,

Sanders

applied

for

SLI

(Sick Leave

ln}ury)

and Hummt

Resourcys.replied ~ n y i n g her request

for

extended

leave due

to pending disciplinary

actions,

. 30. .Finally on

May 21,

2011, Sanders

Sllbmitted

a request

to be

a Follter

Parent

for a

teenager.

s a

DYFS worker you

must complete

an

Outside Activity

Questionoaire by NJ State Ethics Commission.

he

ronn must be given to the Local

.Offie


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CQllN tJ

UNLAWFUL

TERMlNATlON

N,J, ).A,

10:5-l

et seq.

32.

Plaintiff repeats andre-alleges

the

alleglltions setf0)1h above

as

if fully

set

forth

herein.

33.

Plaintiff,

as

a

female, belongs to

a

protected class.

34.

t

ail times throughout her employment,

Plaintiff

performed her duties

and responsibilities in a satisfactorytnanner.

35, l a i n t i f f w ~ s constructively tenninated while

she

was on

medicnlleave,

36, The

actions of Defendant

were taken in violation of the New

Jersey

Law

Against Discrimination,

N.J,S.A.

10:5-l

et seq.

which

prohibits discrimination based on

sex

and have caused

Plaintiff to suffer

economic,

emotional and psychological

damages

in

an amount to be determined by a

jury,

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendants,

jointly

and

.severally,

for

following

relief:

a. Compensatory Damages;

b.

Punitive

Damages, including treble damages:

c.

Attorney s fee

and ccsts of

suit;

.

d. Such.otl1er and further rel ief that the Court deems equitable nnd just.

CO

UNTil

UNLAWFUL RET ALIATlON

NJLA:O N.J.S.A.lO:l-1, ei

seq.

37. All of the l ~ e g t i o n s

in each

of the foregoing paragraphs are incorporated

by refe(ence

as

.if

fully set

fotth

herein.

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38.

Because

Plainttffeoded her

romnntic

relationship with JonathM Reid, a

supervisor at l ~ i n t i f f s

employment

who had been employed with DYFS'for

10

years,

Plaintiff

was subjected to retaliation,

hartlssment

and

a

hostile work environment.

39.

Plaintiffwas tenninated

the first time

due

to

the

false c h r t ~ e s

filed

by

Reid.

Plaintiff

had to be reinstated by

D

YFS because she was terminated after being

acq\iitWd of hlliges.

40. After DYFS reinstated plaintiff, DYVS supervisors began to harass,

embarrass, ostracize .ind otherwise retaliate against Plaintiff

.41. Instead of taking remedial

action

to stop the

harassment,

DYFS retaliated .

by firing

Plaintiff

while she was out on

medical

leave.

42. .As o qirect

and

proximate re5ult o Defendants' actions,1 laintiffhas

suffered and will continue

to

suffer

economic, emotional

and

psychological

dmnages in

anamount

w

e determined by ajuty. Because of Defendants

wil\fu1 and mn iclous

.conduct,

Plaintiff.seeks

punitive damages in Defendants individual capacities

in

an

.amount to l)e ~ e t e r m i n e d by a

jury.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendants for the following

relief:

a. .ComP.ertsatory

Damages;

b. Punitive Damages;

c. Attorney s fees;

d. Such other and

further

rellefthat the Court

deems

equitable and just.

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COUNT

l l

NJLAD

HOSTlLE WORK ENVlRONMEN f

N.J.S.A. 10:1-1 i seq

43.

Plalntiff repeats

and realleges the

alle11ations set

forth above as if fully

set

forth

herein.

44. y

reason of the foregoing, Plaintiff, was

denie


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COY)NTIV

COlYIMUN

LAW STATUTE

MALICIOUS PROSECU1 10N

47.

All.

of the allegations

in each

of

the foregoing paragraphs

are

incorporated

hy

reference

as if

fully

set

forth

herein

.

. 48. Defendant Jonathan

Reid

charged Plaintiff

with

indictable offenSes.

49. Reid lacked any probable cause to believe t ~ t Plaintiff committed any of

the

crimes chatged .

.

SO.

Reid filed

the above ~ h a r g e s maliciously,

in

order

to retaliate against

Plaintiff for having ended tl1eir

romantic relationship.

51. nie criminal

charges

were

dismissed in favor

of Plaintiff, As a

result

of

the

foregoing,

Plaintiff

has

suffer great anxiety, humiliation, embarrassment,

economic.

damages

and

other related injul'les,

which

Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to

suffer in an runotint to be determined by a jury,

Wl{EREFORE,

Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendants, jointly and

~ v c i a l l y

for

the following

relief:

e,

Compenslltor)

damages;

f.

Punitive damages, including

treble damages;

g. Attorney s

fee

atid costs of suit;

h

S lch other

and

further relief that the Cowt

deems

equitable and just.

COUNTV.

ABUSE

OF PlWCESS

REID

52 All ofthe allegations in

each

of the foregoing paragraphs are incorporated

by

reference

as lf

fully set forth

hel'ein.

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53.

Defendant Reid

caused to

be

filed

a crlminnl complaint against

a n d ~ r s

for

an

illegitimate Pllljlose, to

wit,

to retaliate against Sanders,

54,

As a direct

and

proximate C31 SC

of the

aforementioned, Plaintiff was

deprived of

her

constitutional

r i h ~

as alleged herein.

A s

nresult ofthe foregoing,

- Plalntiffhils suffered and

will

continue

to

suffer economic, emotional.and psychological

damages in an

amount to be

determined

by

a jury, Because of Chemas' willful and

rilali'cious conduct, Plaintiff seeks punitive damages in his individual capacity

to

be

: determined

by a jury,

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff

demands

judgment against Defendants, joWly

and

; severally, for the following:

a, Compensatory damages

iu

an amo\mt

to

be detemlined by a

jury.

b.

Interest from the date of entry of udgment at a rate of percent per arurom;

c. Punitive

damages;

d. Costs of suit; and

e.

Any

other and further reliefthat

the

court considers proper.

COUNT VI

New Jersey Civil Rights Act

N.J.S.A. l 0:6-2

New Jersey Constitution, Section 6

Free

Spwch

55.

Plirlntlffrepeats

and

realleges the allegations set forth above as if fully set

forth herein.

56

Plaintiff

exercised his right

to

freedom of speech guaranteed

by

t h ~ New

Jersey Constitution, Art. 1

6, by

complaining about defendants wropgdoing.

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57. As a e s u l t of Plaintiffs complaints, DYFS tenninated plaintiff

while

she

was out on

medical

leave.

~ S .

As

n result oflhe foregoing, Plaintiffhas suffered, and continues

to

suffer

~ ~ g e s

in an

amount to

be

detennined by a jury. Because of Defendant's willful

and

niaHciops

c o n ~ \ c t , Plaintiff seeks p\Ulitive damages in Defendant's i n d i v ~ d u a l e a p a c i t y in

an amount to be' detennined by ~ t J u r y .

COUNT VII

New Jersey

Civil

Rights Act

N.J .S.A. Hl:6-2

New

Jersey Constitution, Section 18

Petition for Redl'ess of G 'itvance

59.

Plaintiff repents and realleges

the

allegations

set

forth above as

if fully

set

forth herein

.

.60. l'laii1tiff exercised her right to petition the government for redress of

grievances when she requested an administrative hearing and arbitration the

ijrst

time she

was

illegally termipated by DYFS due to Defendant Reid's false charges.

61. As a result of Plaintiff's complaints she

was

reinstated

and

DYFS

s.uperv\spfi l)cgan.to iurrass, embarrass, ostracize and otherwise retaliat6 against Plaintiff

by

depriving \ er

of

favorable work assigrunents, Creating 8 hostile environment and given

her baseless

disciplin'ary actions.

62. s

a result of the foregoing, Plaintiff has suffered,

and

contin\les

to

suffer

damag.es

in

an amount

to

be determined by a jury. Because of Defendant's wi lful8Ild

ii,a(icious conduct, Plaintiff seeks punitive damages in Defendant's individual capacity in

an amount

to

be

determined

by

a jury.

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COUNT VIII.

UNLAWFUL

TERMINATION

l' .J.S.A.,

10:51 e seq

DISABlLITY

63.

'The PlaintifTrepeats

and

reatleges

the

allegation$

set

forth

above

as

i

riioni fully

set

forth

heir(lln.

64. As alleged in the complaint, Defendant discritninated

against

Plaintiff in

by

terminating her employment while she

was

on disability.

65.. .

Defendants'

actions

were

taken

in

violation ofNew Jersey Law Against

J)iscriniinatioti, N J.S:A., I 0:5-I et seq. and have caused Plaintiff to suffer economic,

e notioiu


14/15OZ d

PESIQNA

TION

OF TRIAL COUNS &L

LOUIS A ZAYAS, ESQ., is designated as

trial

counsel in this ~ a t t e r .

DATED,:

March

6,

2013

DEMAND FOB rRODUCfiON OF N S U R t \ N ~ AGMEMENTS

Pursy.ant

toR 4:10-2(b),

demand is hereby made that you

disclose

to

the

Jinders_igned

~ h e t l e r

there

are

any

insurance

agreements or

policies

~ d e r

which

ony

person or

tirrp

carrying on

an insurance

business may be

liable

to satisfy a ' or part ofa

j u d ~ e n t which may be entered in the

action

or to indemnify or reimbll se for p y m e n ~

innde

to satisfy the judgment.

lf

so, please attach a

copy

of each,

or

nltermitlve state,

imder

oath and certification:

(a)

policy number;

(b)

name and address ofinsurer,

(c)

incept.ion

arid

expiration date; (d)

names and

addresses of all persons insured thete\inder;

DATED: March6, 2013

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LOUIS A. AYAS, ESQ.

Counsel

fo the Plaintiff

9VZV8V98LG:Xej


15/15

:.'ERTIFICATIONPURSUANT

O

R 4:5-1

I certify that

the matters

in controversy in this action arc not subjet of any other

actlonpendirig in

ny

other court

or

of

a

pending

arbitration

proceeding

.imd

thilt no

other .

.

action. or arbi1ration proceeding is contemplated

DATED: Maroh 6, 2013

LOUIS

A.

~ AS

ESQ.

Counsel for ilie\laintlff

Lavern Sanders v New Jersey Department of Children and Families

Documents

Transcript of Lavern Sanders v New Jersey Department of Children and Families