A New Jersey boss was so lewd and crude that his office could regularly buy lunch with the money it collected from an “inappropriate-comment jar’’ targeting him, a new lawsuit says.
Dru DiSilvestro, a manager at Eric M. Krise Electrical Contractor LLC, exposed himself to a co-worker, put a sex toy on her desk and was behind enough pervy talk that the company’s head of human resources created the $1-a-comment jar and used its contents for lunch, according to the lawsuit.
“At the end of each week, [the HR rep] would pick out slips from the comment jar which pertained to Dru’s conduct and say there was enough slips and fines to buy the office lunch,’’ plaintiff Meaghan Martin told The Post.
Martin, 27, was hired as a receptionist in 2016 and rose to residential manager — all while being “forced to endure vile and unwanted sexual advances on a near-daily basis,” said her lawyer, Matthew Luber.
Martin’s piggish, married, 33-year-old boss once “unzipped his pants and was holding his penis in his hand’’ while asking her, “Isn’t it nice and girthy?” when they worked alone together, according to court papers.
This past fall, DiSilvestro also “placed a dildo on [Martin’s] desk,” according to the Salem County suit. “When [Martin] immediately complained … he said, ‘I bet you could take the whole thing.’ ”
The boss also once sent Martin a photo of his privates that he took in the office bathroom, noting, “This is what you’re missing out on,’’ her suit claims.
The Monroeville, NJ, woman told The Post her boss thought “tormenting me is hilarious.
“It became apparent that no one was going to help me, and I felt trapped,’’ she said.
Martin said DiSilvestro’s behavior was treated as an “office joke,” as was evident with the “Inappropriate Comment Jar” kept on human-resources chief Wendy Seagraves’ desk for employees who heard anyone step out of line, the suit says. DiSilvestro was always the main offender, Martin says.
In her suit, Martin claims that last month she finally saw a doctor, who put her on immediate leave because of the anxiety and panic attacks she was suffering as a result of the situation.
A Krise employee referred all requests for comment from DiSilvestro, Seagraves and the company to its lawyer, Evan Blaker.
Blaker called the allegations “not well-founded.” He said Martin never complained to Seagraves and that this is the plaintiff’s “attempt to have a pay day,” adding that DiSilvestro is a “class clown.”