Secaucus Gay Couple Sues Fire Department Over Harassment

July 6, 2004

Two gay men who claim they've been harassed by members of the volunteer fire department for the last three months have filed a civil suit against the department and the town.

The complaint, filed Thursday in state Superior Court in Jersey City, also names the Secaucus Police Department, Fire Chief Frank Walters, Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, Mayor Dennis Elwell and 30 unnamed individuals as defendants.

The suit claims harassment, discrimination, retaliation, negligence and violation of state civil rights laws.

The plaintiffs, Peter de Vries and Timothy Carter, say problems escalated after an incident on April 25, when the couple asked a boisterous group of off-duty firemen returning from an awards dinner in Cliffside Park to quiet down. The firefighters retaliated by throwing rocks at their house and issuing death threats to the men, according to the suit.

The investigation into the incidents - initiated by local police and then the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office - was handed over to the Bias Crimes unit at the state Attorney General's Office in May.

The investigation remains ongoing, said John Hagerty, the spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. The investigation will endeavor to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.

The couple seeks damages for loss of wages, pain, suffering, stress, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional harm and the physical manifestation of their emotional injuries, including migraine headaches, chest and stomach pains and depression. They are asking for reimbursement for medical expenses, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, as well as discipline against individuals involved in the discrimination and harassment, the institution of training programs regarding tolerance for gay men and women; institution of a place for town residents to lodge complaints of discriminatory acts of town employees and other items.

The couple's attorney, Neil Mullin of the Montclair law firm Smith Mullin, said the couple filed a civil suit because they contend that the harassment still has not ceased even in light of the Attorney General's investigation.

They live in a constant state of fear and anxiety, Mullin said. They've been affected physically and emotionally. They have changed the routes along which they walk. Firemen have driven by and shouted crude epithets at them.

Attacks on them have happened repeatedly since the investigation began, he continued.

Mullin said Carter claims the firefighters even harass him at his place of employment, and the couple also have been verbally attacked while walking down the streets of Secaucus.

They are filing a civil suit because (the harassment) is continuing and the town has done less than nothing to protect them, Mullin said.

The law suit cites the details of the event on April 25, but it also documents other incidents and allegations.

The complaint says in May, on several occasions, a number of the defendants screamed anti-gay epithets while driving by in their cars and walking in front of the couple's house.

The complaint also alleges that on May 2, one of the defendants walked up to the couple's home and punched a wall.

Thomas J. Cammarata, the attorney who has been hired by the North End Fire Department, Engine 2, declined to comment until he received a copy of the complaint. In an interview last month, however, he said he doubted anything could come from the criminal investigation.

I don't think the investigation is going to amount to anything, Cammarata said in June. I don't see where they're going with this, and these two individuals are being very antagonistic towards the department.

They're doing things like walking on (the Fire Department's) property and staring at them. These are two individuals who claim they were living in fear, and meanwhile their conduct, I think, is somewhat questionable.

Mullin denied Cammarata's allegations that de Vries and Carter are antagonizing the Fire Department.

Though it's been alleged that my clients are harassing the Fire Department, those are false allegations, Mullin said. My clients have been ruthlessly harassed by mainly members of the Fire Department in many incidents, including their places of work and including on the streets of Secaucus.

The law suit also claims town officials, including the mayor, police department and town administrator did nothing to help the plaintiffs and instead sided with the firefighters.

When plaintiff Timothy Carter began to tell (police) officers they they'd been attacked by a mob of firefighters, the police officer told him to stop and said that he didn't want to hear any of that language. He appeared to refuse to write down in his report any of the hostile, discriminatory language that the firemen had been making, according to the complaint.

Iacono said he could not comment on the civil suit until he knows more details.

First and most importantly, no one single person in the town of Secaucus has been found guilty of anything, he said. There have been no charges, and until the investigation is fully complete, obviously we cannot comment in this civil suit.

The mayor could not comment on the allegation because he has not yet received a copy of the complaint. He noted, however, that firefighters did go through sensitivity training from a town-contracted certified specialist.

We have always attempted in the town of Secaucus to try to operate all departments in a very efficient and proper manner, Elwell said.

He said many of the firefighters who are also town employees had received special sensitivity training mandated by the town prior to the April 25 incident, but because the Fire Department is composed of volunteers, the fire chief decided to implement sensitivity training to ensure that all firefighters received it.

The town's insurance company has been notified about the civil suit and will cover any legal expenses the town may incur, Elwell noted.