Sexual harassment lawsuit targets ex-Gov. DiFrancesco
Headline News
[##_1L|1120028924.jpg|width="130" height="130" alt=""|_##]A lawyer fired from former New Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco's firm alleged in a whistle-blower and sexual harassment complaint Wednesday that she was dismissed for filing an ethics grievance against a judge who was a pal of the partners. And the suit by Michele D'Onofrio says a comment by DiFrancesco about her breasts -- he denies he said it -- was part of the harassment. The suit, filed in Essex County, says D'Onofrio, a matrimonial lawyer, was dismissed on Sept. 21 as a nonequity partner from 39-lawyer DiFrancesco, Bateman, Coley, Yospin, Kunzman, Davis & Lehrer because she filed an ethics grievance against Richard Sasso, the municipal judge in Warren Township, where D'Onofrio serves as prosecutor.
She says her complaints to ethics authorities about Sasso's allegedly unjust behavior and her cooperation in an FBI inquiry about Sasso's handling of a case caused a backlash among her superiors because the judge was a "political ally, friend and crony" of the firm.
As for sexual harassment, the suit says D'Onofrio and other women complained about unwelcome sexual comments and touching by DiFrancesco, but no corrective action was taken.
D'Onofrio recently underwent reconstructive surgery after a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006. Before the surgery, DiFrancesco "asked her if she was planning on ‘getting really big boobs,'" the suit says.
In a telephone interview after the suit was filed, DiFrancesco said of that allegation, "It's absolutely not true. I can't recall saying those things and I know I would not have said things in those ways."
As for the rest of the personal charges against him, "a couple of things were fabricated," he says.
"It's not something I like to read, and I'm very unhappy about it and I'm very angry about it," says DiFrancesco, who was acting governor in 2001 at the end of a 25-year career in the state Legislature.
The suit names the firm, not individual partners, one of whom is Assemblyman Christopher Bateman, R-Somerset.
According to the complaint, DiFrancesco once asked D'Onofrio if she planned to wear a bathing suit to a professional function. In 2002, he asked her to stay a night in his hotel suite in Atlantic City after a League of Municipalities meeting and then go to a Beach Boys concert with him.
Related listings
-
Law firm lands deal as stadium sponsor
Headline News 10/24/2007Baker & Daniels on Tuesday joined a growing list of corporate sponsors of Lucas Oil Stadium, marking the venue's third such deal in the past month. The stadium's upper and lower east club levels will be named for the Indianapolis law firm, said T...
-
Class-action lawyers rack up rare victory on fees
Headline News 10/24/2007In a decision closely watched by plaintiffs' lawyers, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the fees awarded to a class-action firm, but not because the payment was too high. The court, in an opinion earlier this month, raised the possib...
-
Panel: US Must Control Security Firms
Headline News 10/23/2007A panel recommended to the State Department that the U.S. government impose unified control over private security guards working for the U.S. in Iraq, an idea already floated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, The Associated Press has learned.The rev...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.