SPOTSWOOD–Former Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director David Nichols has filed a lawsuit alleging Business Administrator Dawn McDonald has committed acts of misconduct and harassment and created a hostile work environment.
Attorney Gina Longarzo, who is representing Nichols, said the lawsuit was filed on Dec. 23.
Nichols served as the EMS director from March 2017 until his resignation on April 15, 2019. He has more than 12 years of experience as a certified EMT and international trauma life support provider, and has answered approximately 20,000 emergency calls during his career. He has more than 10 years of experience in management positions, according to the lawsuit.
During the Borough Council meeting on that date April 15, reading from his letter of resignation, Nichols said, “My time in EMS has come to an end because of the harassment and what I view as a hostile work environment, which is directly affecting my health [and] mental well-being. I will be retiring from EMS effective immediately.”
The lawsuit alleges Nichols was subjected to harassment and retaliation by McDonald and other municipal employees asked to do her bidding because of his refusal to commit illegal acts and ignore wrongdoings, and his actions challenging McDonald and her agenda by speaking out on matters of public concern, according to the lawsuit.
The alleged harassment and retaliation was in various forms, including the refusal to increase his salary as promised, heightened scrutiny, the selective enforcement of policies, disparate treatment, an ongoing hostile work environment, and continued efforts to malign his character and professional reputation with an intent of obstructing his future employment opportunities, among other adverse employment actions, according to the lawsuit.
After working as an emergency medical technician for Spotswood since June 2016, in March 2017, Nichols became the acting director of the EMS division. At that time, five individuals who previously directed the division had abruptly departed, according to the lawsuit.
As a result of Nichols’ accomplishments in a short period of time, he was offered the position of EMS director on a full-time basis and agreed to accept a drastically reduced salary on the condition his salary would be renegotiated for 2018, to which he said Mayor Ed Seely agreed, according to the lawsuit.
According to the notice, in August 2017, Nichols implemented the use of a new medical charting system in the division. Shortly after that system was installed, Nichols said, he objected to allowing McDonald illegal access to patients’ confidential medical information and claims she went over his head to gain access to the information, according to the lawsuit.
In about September 2017, Nichols said he began to notice increasing hostility from McDonald.
In May 2018, Nichols was able to orchestrate the EMS division’s move to a newly renovated building. Shortly after the move, he said, McDonald installed an internal camera system under the guise of increasing the building’s safety and security. However, Nichols claims McDonald insisted on having her own unlimited access to the camera system, which was unique to the EMS division, according to the lawsuit.
In July 2018, when all division heads received a 2% to 2.5% raise, Nichols claims McDonald purposely denied him and Police Chief Michael Zarro, who was also allegedly experiencing harassment at the hands of McDonald, a similar raise, according to the lawsuit
In the fall of 2018, the borough’s insurance adjuster reportedly advised Nichols an ambulance that had been totaled in a March 2018 accident had not been properly fixed and was unsafe to drive, according to the lawsuit.
Nichols claims in the notice he advised McDonald the ambulance had to be repaired or replaced because it was not safe for use, but that McDonald attempted to reinstate the use of the ambulance.
Nichols later learned, in December 2018, that McDonald was reportedly communicating with the business administrator for her hometown of East Brunswick in an attempt to close the borough’s EMS Division and she allegedly sought to piggy-back off of East Brunswick’s contract for services with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, which is illegal and against public policy, according to the lawsuit.
Then, following an incident on Dec. 24, 2018, which caused Nichols to discipline a subordinate, he learned that McDonald allegedly improperly initiated a bogus investigation targeting him, among others, in an attempt to malign his character and reputation, according to the lawsuit.
Specifically, McDonald falsely claimed that Nichols was responsible for creating and fostering an inappropriate workplace environment in which his staff were drinking and having sex with Spotswood Police Department employees while on duty in EMS headquarters, according to the lawsuit.
As a direct result of McDonald’s wrongful actions, Nichols has been deprived of his employment rights and other rights; has lost wages and benefits; has sustained injury to his reputation and employability; and has suffered emotional distress, pain and suffering and physical effects due to the hostile work environment, harassment and retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
At a June 17, 2019, meeting, Spotswood council members voted to hire a special employment counsel to investigate the allegations made in the tort claim, which was filed on June 12.
The council retained attorney Deena Rosendahl to conduct the investigation. The allegations were unsubstantiated and the investigation found there was no evidence of harassment, retaliation or discrimination. The matter was closed according to a document sent on Oct. 13 by Council President Charles Spicuzzo.
Zarro and Spotswood Police Capt. Philip Corbisiero have filed their own updated tort claim notices in which they allege McDonald has continued to commit acts of harassment. Longarzo represents them as well.
“We are attempting to settle but if that does not work we will be filing suit before the end of the year,” Longarzo said.
McDonald said she had “no comment” when contacted on Dec. 27.
Seely could not be reached by press time.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].