Mendham Twp. police chief claims sexual harassment

Mendham Township Police Chief Steven Crawford claims he has been sexually harassed on the job since 2012 and subjected to an adverse working environment since last year when he held a news conference defending the force against allegations of motorist profiling.

Crawford, 47, and a member of the Mendham Township police force for 28 years, has filed a notice of intent to sue the township, which was delivered Tuesday. Crawford declined elaboration on the claim.

When a person intends to sue a public entity, a notice that also is called a tort claims notice must be filed within 90 days after the incident/incidents that give rise to the alleged wrongful conduct. An actual lawsuit cannot be filed for at least six months after the tort claims notice is served.

Without providing names, the notice charges that elected officials, appointed officials and/or employees “unlawfully and wrongfully harassed Crawford by making inappropriate statements to him concerning such matters as Crawford’s age, physique, out-of-office personal and family relationships, sexuality, sexual orientation, size of his genitals, morals and reputation as a law-abiding citizen ... and family orientation and desire to have children.”

The sexual harassment began in 2012 and continues, the notice said. It says that Crawford complained to unidentified officials but no action ever was taken.

Crawford’s professional relationship with the Township Committee noticeably soured in June 2014 after Officer Robert Wysokowski filed a lawsuit alleging that he was pressured by superiors to target young drivers for tickets and was wrongly bypassed for promotion.

Crawford, surrounded by a majority of the police force, responded by calling a news conference at which he flatly denied any pressure on officers to profile young drivers.

The tort claim notice says that Crawford learned this past July 16 that Township Committee members Samuel Tolley and Maribeth Thomas, and former Committeeman Richard Merkt had “entered into an agreement” at some unspecified point with Township Administrator Amy Upchurch “to cause harm and injury to Crawford, his reputation and his unblemished career in law enforcement.”

Upchurch recently resigned as administrator; her last day was July 17. Merkt left the committee in 2014 after he was hired as Mendham Borough’s administrator.

Merkt on Thursday said he never heard a word from Crawford about sexual harassment during his time on the committee between 2011 and 2014. Merkt said there was never any conspiracy to tarnish Crawford’s reputation, but committee members in 2014 were annoyed when Crawford held a news conference in response to Wysokowski’s lawsuit without alerting committee members.

“It’s remarkable that if sexual harassment started in 2012 he never brought it to anyone’s attention,” Merkt said.

“Last year, the chief went off on his own without notice to the committee and held a press conference. The governing body was completely blindsided by what the chief did. I think he’s a capable chief, but I think he has done things on his own without consulting the committee. Sometimes he acts like he’s a free agent,” Merkt said.

“I thought the press conference was a very serious action, and the chief deserved to be called on the carpet for it,” Merkt said.

Thomas, Mayor Chris Baumann and Township Attorney John M. Mills III have not returned calls for comment. Tolley could not be reached.

One of the most recent alleged acts of harassment against Crawford, according to the notice, occurred on June 17 when Crawford was served with a “Rice Notice” that advised the terms and conditions of his job would be discussed at an upcoming committee meeting.

Crawford demanded a public hearing, the notice said.

“The township clerk told Crawford that he (Crawford) would not want this session to be heard in public, implying that it would be embarrassing, distressing and detrimental to Crawford, his career and his reputation.”

The Rice Notice was withdrawn after Crawford insisted on a public hearing, the tort claim notice said.

Though an actual lawsuit has not been filed, the notice says potential claims would be for sexual harassment, sexual hostility, overt hostility toward Crawford based on his age, wrongful withholding of overtime money, wrongful targeting of him with adverse employment acts in a way that violates state laws including the Law Against Discrimination and the Conscientious Employee Protection Act.

The lawsuit filed last year by Wysokowski still is pending. At Crawford’s request in 2014, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed the profiling claims and closed out its internal affairs investigation after concluding there was “insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct.”

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.