New Jersey town pays 1.7M to settle “ugly” racism lawsuit

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Racism was rearing its ugly head in the town of Somerville, New Jersey, so much so that the town had to pay out 1.7M in a racism lawsuit reports MyCentralJersey.

In the racism lawsuit, the three workers accused now-retired general foreman of Somerville Anthony “Tony” Hendershot with “routinely” addressing them and other black public works worker by racial slurs.

Somerville racism lawsuit

The lawsuit said Tony Hendershot was the “epicenter” of the racism, which began in the 1980s, and escalated it when he became their supervisor in 2004.

Of the three workers, Rodney Dorsey wrote a letter to the borough administration reporting discrimination in salary but received no response. Later that year, Dorsey wrote a letter to Mayor Brian Gallagher about discrimination but again received no response, reports the website.

When MyCentralJersey first publically exposed the lawsuit last year, Mayor Brian Gallagher called the allegations “ugly.”

Each of the employees and their attorneys received an equal share of the seven-figure settlement amount, according to a copy of the October agreement obtained this week by MyCentralJersey.com

Though there was no admittance to wrongdoing, the agreement also stated that borough officials have mandated new annual anti-discrimination and sensitivity training for all employees and volunteer firefighters. The settlement also forces borough to have a diversity committee meet every two months.