SAYREVILLE – An officer in the Sayreville Police Department has taken legal action against the department and Police Chief John Zebrowski, alleging a hostile work environment after he reported the chief for allegedly using a racial slur.
A complaint was filed on July 20 in New Jersey Superior Court by Thomas Tesar and his wife against the Sayreville Police Department, Zebrowski, Lt. David Erla and two unidentified individuals.
Tesar, who has been a member of the department since 2014, alleges that he has been subjected to harassment since a 2016 incident.
In the complaint, Tesar alleges that another officer told him about Zebrowski referring to him as the n-word; he did not hear a slur directly. Tesar, who is White, contacted Erla of Internal Affairs to investigate and report the alleged incident. However, Tesar alleges that Erla instead advised him to speak directly to Zebrowski to resolve the matter.
Tesar also alleges that Erla informed Zebrowski of the alleged slur instead of reporting it, with the complaint stating that Zebrowski allegedly spoke to Tesar directly about the incident and claimed that the slur was made by a different administrative officer.
According to the complaint, Tesar did not believe the other administrative officer made the slur, which he allegedly told Erla, but found that Erla would not help him and was disregarding his opinions.
The complaint states that Tessar decided not to pursue the matter for fear of retaliation, but cites subsequent alleged incidents that created a hostile work environment for him:
- While Tesar was assigned to the area his residence is located in, he stopped by his house, which led to a complaint from a supervising officer. Tesar alleges that the supervising officer would frequently stop by his own residence and had no reason to drive by Tesar’s home.
- Tesar was not asked to fill an open position within the administration bureau, while officers allegedly not interested were asked about the position. After Tesar submitted a letter of interest, the position went to an officer who allegedly never expressed interest.
- The officer who received the position allegedly informed Tesar about Erla also using the n-word, which he felt he could not report due to Erla being the supervisor of Internal Affairs.
- After consuming several alcoholic beverages, but stopping over six hours before he was required to begin his shift, Tesar attempted to use a sick day. However, when his supervising officer did not respond to his calls, he decided to inform his supervisor in person about using a sick day after the lineup was completed. Instead, because he had reported for work, Tesar was sent to Internal Affairs, who gave him a 15-day suspension. Tesar alleges that Zebrowski was seeking a 45-day suspension, while two Sayreville Police Academy recruits (one being the son of an Internal Affairs lieutenant) received three-day suspensions for drinking alcohol in the academy.
- Tesar questioned if a coffee machine that was delivered to the police station as a holiday gift violated the department’s policy against accepting gratuity and gifts. This allegedly led to an Internal Affairs report and a verbal warning from Erla against Tesar.
- After Tesar was falsely accused of falling asleep on duty, Erla informed Tesar that no formal Internal Affairs investigation would be conducted, allegedly on Zebrowski’s orders.
- When Tesar observed another officer appearing to fall asleep on duty, he and the officer who reported it were investigated for exceeding their work hours, a policy that Tesar alleges has been violated repeatedly by numerous officers and supervisors and rarely enforced. Tesar alleges that he and the other whistleblowing officer were also investigated for possibly conspiring to use and distribute a picture they took of the officer allegedly sleeping on duty.
Citing an overall negative treatment by his fellow officers since 2016, Tesar alleges that the defendants violated Conscientious Employee Protection Act for conduct that was intentional and constitutes retaliation and a hostile work environment.
Tesar also alleges that the defendants committed unlawful discrimination and retaliation against him, aided each other in the retaliation and growing the hostile work environment, negatively affected his wife, and violated his rights under the Law Against Discrimination and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act.
From the court, Tesar is seeking judgment on his counts against any and all defendants for compensatory damages, including where applicable, lost wages, punitive damages, personal injury, benefits, together with interest, attorney fees, costs of suit, and any further relief.
Zebrowski said he cannot comment on the litigation because of the Borough of Sayreville’s policy regarding refraining from discussing personnel issues.
Steven Altman, of Benedict and Altman in New Brunswick, who is representing Zebrowski, said through a representative of his firm that he “will not be commenting at this time on Chief Zebrowski.”
- Jennifer Amato contributed to this article.