William Pepe says the problems had existed for at least a year when the chief of police ordered Pepe into his office to scold him for not writing enough traffic tickets. Pepe, who was the Pompton Lakes Police Department’s only Black officer at the time, said the meeting was part of a pattern of disparate treatment he endured on the job and at the hands of Chief Derek Clark.
It is one of several allegations Pepe, 41, made in a legal notice announcing that he intends to sue the borough, its council and police department, alleging that his career trajectory “came to a grinding halt” after he expressed concerns to his union about his supervisors’ conduct. Pepe alleges he was subjected to a hostile and retaliatory work environment that led to “work-related mental health issues” and culminated in his “constructive termination,” which occurs when an employer’s conduct effectively forces an employee to resign.
“The race and disability discrimination and harassment were so severe, and the ongoing retaliation was so intense, that he had no option but to quit,” his attorney said in the legal filing, known as a notice of tort claim.
Pepe, who under New Jersey law has to wait six months after sending the notice to file the suit, plans to seek at least $2.5 million in damages.
The police department, which has 24 officers, said it had no comment about the allegations in the claim.
Erik DeLine, president of the borough council, said: “Beyond the fact the claims are entirely false and that the Borough will vigorously defend itself and its officers, I have no further comment.”
Pepe, who is an Army veteran, joined the department in 2015 and was promoted to the detective bureau four years later, he said in an interview and in the notice of tort claim. He was also assigned to the narcotics task force at the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and was a firearms instructor for the police department.
But he alleges that he was reassigned to the patrol division in…
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