Third woman sues county over sexual harassment
TRENTON » Former Mercer Airport boss Stanley Patterson tried dry-humping one of his workers when they were alone together and wanted the woman to spend the night with him despite being involved with the county’s personnel director, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
A third woman has sued the county over the treatment she experienced from Patterson, a former airport supervisor who was fired in October after sexual misconduct allegations against him became public.
Two other women have sued the county, alleging the former airport boss’ lurid behavior ranged from propositioning them for sex and threesomes to singing sexually laced Eazy-E rap lyrics at work.
The county is also trying to recoup more than $2,100 in unearned vacation, sick and personal time pay from Patterson, the live-in boyfriend of Raissa Walker, the county personnel director and chairwoman of the Trenton Democratic Committee.
Like the other women, Patterson’s third accuser says he tried to get her to perform oral sex and sleep with him, promising she would be financially set if she agreed to it, according to the lawsuit.
Kevin Costello, the attorney representing the three women, said he did not wish to comment “at this time” beyond what was contained in the recent filing.
The woman’s name is being withheld because she is a victim of Patterson’s sexual misconduct. Her account in the lawsuit, describing treatment as “egregious,” mirrored claims made by the women before her in that she contended her complaints about Patterson to county brass went unheeded.
Charging that upper management engaged in the harassment or was “willfully indifferent” to it, the woman laid out that Patterson’s harassment began sometime around April 2016.
The woman eventually told team manager Harold Harrison about the harassment but it went “unabated.” After that, Patterson began taking the woman apart, the lawsuit said, by refusing to approve her overtime and being short and abrupt with her.
According to the lawsuit, Patterson told the woman to “bring some overnight clothes” to his house after she finished working out at the gym. In July 2016, Patterson, who made roughly $83,000 working for the county, bragged about how he could ensure the woman was financially secure if she agreed to sex.
The lawsuit states he told the woman, “Stop playing. F--- me and your bills will stay paid.”
Patterson boasted about being a man who preferred breasts, informing his subordinate he was “ready to suck those titties.”
Referring to his penis, he told the woman she needed to “shake this head. Lol,” the lawsuit said.
Patterson bragged about his sexual prowess to his female worker, claiming he was “too much in bed” for his girlfriend. He also told the woman his girlfriend told him to “get a little friend.”
Whenever Patterson asked the woman to take trips with him, she turned him down, the lawsuit said. Undeterred by his multiple failed conquests, Patterson brushed up against the woman and “pushed his groin out and up against her,” when they were alone in a trailer at work, the lawsuit said.
Patterson, who has also been accused of watching porn on his phone, allegedly whipped out his cell phone one day and showed the woman a picture of another woman working out. She was squatting and had her legs spread apart.
Patterson wanted to know whether his underling had the same ability.
The county doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Patterson did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment. But he blasted The Trentonian in voicemails after the newspaper published a story about how the county was going after him for more than $2,100 for using 47.5 of unearned paid time off.
The county is trying to recoup the money in small claims court and said it didn’t contact prosecutors about opening a time-theft probe.
“That’s the best you can write,” Patterson said in the message. “Boy, you’re trying to sell some newspapers. Amazing what we have to do to sell newspapers, huh? You gotta write a little bit better s--- than that. That s--- gets a little old.”