MML Case Alert
Matthew A. Luber and Jeffrey D. Ragone represent paralegal Kristen Rose in a sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation case pursuant to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“NJLAD”) against the law firm Di Nicola & Di Nicola LLC and its lawyers, Joseph M. Di Nicola Jr. (“Defendant Junior”) and Joseph M. Di Nicola (“Defendant Senior”).
As alleged in the Complaint, shortly after the start of Ms. Rose’s employment in December 2018, Defendant Junior targeted her while acting as her supervisor and waited for the opportunity to reveal his true colors as a violent, abusive boss. When Ms. Rose lost her residence, Defendant Junior asked her to move in with him. According to the Complaint, Ms. Rose reluctantly agreed, and almost immediately thereafter, Defendant Junior unleashed manic episodes of yelling, intimidating, and harassment toward Ms. Rose. Defendant Senior is alleged to have lived next door to Defendant Junior and was keenly aware of Defendant Junior’s rage and his harassment of Ms. Rose in and out of the workplace.
The Complaint alleges that the hostile work environment escalated to physical violence in September 2019, when Defendant Junior slammed Ms. Rose against a gate on the law firm’s property. Defendant Junior continued his acts of physical domestic violence against Ms. Rose, twice while he was aware that Ms. Rose was filming the incidents with her cell phone. When Ms. Rose advised she was leaving him, Defendant Junior retaliated by immediately terminating Ms. Rose’s employment with the law firm. Defendant Junior’s abuse and violence against Ms. Rose persisted even after she left the residence and moved to Delaware, where Defendant Junior broke into Ms. Rose’s new residence and harassed and threatened her.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial for the alleged unlawful retaliation and acts of assault in violation of New Jersey law.