A Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) worker is receiving a $585,000 payout and one receiving a $10,000 raise to settle racism claims that included allegations of white supremacy.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The settlement, approved at the April 27th board of commissioners meeting and effectuated as of June 1st, indicates that Timothy Carter will receive $304,864.83, Michael Malatino, counsel in the matter, will get $199,560.17, and that Lori Carter nets $80,750.
The settlement indicates that none of the plaintiffs admit to any wrongdoing, that the suit is dismissed with prejudice and can’t be refiled, along with a non-disparagement clause. The agreement was obtained via an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.
The Carters filed a lawsuit against the MUA, Executive Director Jose Cunha and mechanic Charles Schaadt in Bergen County Superior Court on May 26th, 2021, with Tim Carter, who is Black, alleging that the latter displayed white supremacist ideology in his office.
“Mr. Schaadt was so brazen in the JCMUA workplace concerning his white supremacist ideology that he screwed a photo of a white supremacist with a Nazi War Eagle tattoo and a tattoo of the Schutzstaffel Armanen rune (commonly referred to as the ‘S.S. lightning bolt’) under plastic in the window of the door between the West Side Plant’s garage and its cafeteria,” the lawsuit alleged.
He also detailed alleged patterns of harassment, including Schaadt placing a dead possum on the driver’s side mirror of his MUA vehicle, to which his superiors are accused of never making any efforts to address.
As for Lori Carter, who is white, she alleged that she was owed payment for working 160 hours of overtime during the COVID-19 pandemic, but was not paid as a way to retaliate against her husband.
“While JCMUA had advised Ms. Carter that it would pay her overtime, following
her husband’s complaint of racial discrimination, JCMUA declined to pay Ms. Carter overtime for her hours worked,” the lawsuit alleged.
“As a result of Mr. Carter’s complaints of racial discrimination and Ms. Carter’s complaints that she has not been paid overtime, JCMUA transferred Ms. Carter’s employment out of the Flagger Department.”
The five-count lawsuit sought compensatory damages for loss of wages and benefits, treble damages, attorneys’ and court fees, as well as any relief the court may deem just and equitable.
Additionally, the confidentiality provision of the settlement indicates that none of the parties can comment on the settlement beyond that the lawsuit has been resolved.
