A former North Bergen police officer who was both criminally charged and fired last year has filed a discrimination lawsuit alleging that a superior routinely mocked his religion, calling him a “camel jockey,” among other slurs.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The 20-page lawsuit, filed in Hudson County Superior Court on behalf of Police Officer Rasheed Siyam by attorney Patrick Toscano on August 7th, alleges his client faced retaliation for reporting the discriminatory conduct.
“From the beginning of Plaintiff’s career through on or about June 19 or June 20, 2023, [Det. Frank] Mena directed discriminatory comments toward Plaintiff concerning Plaintiff’s actual and/or perceived ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, and religion on an almost daily basis,” the lawsuit states.
Among other things, Mena referred to Plaintiff as a ‘terrorist,’ a ‘camel jockey,’ and a ‘sand n*****. Mena also told Plaintiff, in words or substance, that Plaintiff’s ‘people’ or ‘kind’ were responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.”
Toscano also writes in the suit that these were not isolated or ambiguous remarks, which instead reflected the belief that Siyam was “dangerous” and “inferior” because of his background and/or religion.
The past year has been a tumultuous one for Siyam: He was charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for spending 130 hours at home while on duty back in September, as HCV first reported, which led to his termination.
He was suspended a total of 66 days last year, 56 for the aforementioned situation and 10 for allowing a prisoner to be incarcerated without receiving proper medical clearance, allegedly also not contacting a supervising officer to address the matter.
Further, he was one of five current of former North Bergen police officers who accused Chief Robert Farley Jr. of committing “absolutely disgusting” acts.
Toscano is counsel in that matter as well and Siyam is the first one from that group to file suit against the township.
“In or about June 2023, Plaintiff submitted a written memorandum through the Department’s chain of command documenting Mena’s discriminatory comments and requesting that the conduct be addressed,” the lawsuit also says.
“On or about Wednesday, June 21, 2023, after Plaintiff submitted the memorandum, Mena was removed from the Traffic Unit/SRO office in which he had worked with Plaintiff. Although Mena’s relocation separated him from Plaintiff’s immediate work area and the direct comments ceased, the Township did not complete or communicate a formal disciplinary resolution concerning the discrimination at that time.”
While the incident was investigated by the North Bergen PD’s Internal Affairs Unit and then outside counsel, Siyam, via the suit, claims that the matter did not make any progress for over a year after the complaint was filed.
“Chief Farley, then-Deputy Chief Corbisiero, the Township Attorney and the Township, and other members of NBPD command had actual notice of Plaintiff’s complaints and the investigation and, no later than August 2024, knew that charges concerning Mena’s discriminatory conduct had been sustained,” according to the suit.
“Despite that notice, the Township did not impose meaningful discipline or implement corrective measures reasonably calculated to address Mena’s substantiated conduct for more than one year.”
The township allegedly continued to employ Mena “without consequences” related to his religious-based harassment, which also means that Siyam had no protections from further discrimination or retaliation.
“Beginning on or about October 11, 2024, shortly after Plaintiff was advised that the
discrimination charges had been sustained and after Mena’s retirement, Plaintiff experienced a pattern of materially adverse treatment affecting his assignments, professional stability, access to command personnel, and opportunities for advancement,” according Toscano’s description in the lawsuit.
“Within a period of approximately two (2) weeks, Plaintiff’s assignment was changed three (3) times. Upon information and belief, the Township Attorney was aware of all of the above. The rapid succession of involuntary assignment changes was not accompanied by any identified performance deficiency, documented disciplinary basis, or consistent operational explanation communicated to Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit further states that while both Farley and Corbisiero approved all three assignment changes for Siyam, they ignored meeting requests to discuss the matter. When Siyam allegedly tried to schedule a meeting via his union rep, the result did not change.
“Detective [Kevin] Rodriguez thereafter advised Plaintiff that Chief Farley denied the requested meeting and instructed Rodriguez to tell Plaintiff, in words or substance, ‘if Rasheed wants to sue, tell him to go ahead and sue; he won’t be the first or the last,’” the lawsuit says.
“Chief Farley’s statement and refusal to meet support a reasonable inference that he knew Plaintiff was contemplating legal action concerning the discrimination and retaliation, deliberately declined to address Plaintiff’s complaints, and was personally involved in the response to Plaintiff’s protected activity.”
The court filing also contends that Siyam filed his tort claim, a notice of an upcoming lawsuit, with the township on March 5th, 2025 and was removed from the North Bergen PD”s Community Relations Unit about two months later.
Claiming discrimination and retaliation by both the township and his superiors, Siyam is seeking compensatory and consequential damages, pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest, statutory attorneys’ fees, and costs, along with any other relief the court deems just and equitable.
Township spokesman Phil Swibinski did not return a request for comment on Monday.