New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project: State pays $21,000 to settle claim against "sex talk" Camden Probation Officer

	New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project: State pays $21,000 to settle claim against "sex talk" Camden Probation Officer

Issue Detail:

: On June 4, 2009, the New Jersey Attorney General's office paid a $21,000 settlement to a Franklinville woman who claimed that Camden County child support enforcement officer Martin Kay required her to engage her in graphic sexual dialogue in exchange for working on her case file. In her civil lawsuit(Camden County Superior Court, Docket No. L-3552-07), Gladys Madden said that she had contacted the Camden County Probation Department for help in collecting overdue child support payments from her ex-husband. Her case was signed to Kay. She claimed that during a sixteen month period in 2005 and 2006, Kay would repeatedly ask her questions regarding about her physical characteristics, such as her bra size, and request that she remove her clothing. She also claimed that when she complained to Kay's superiors, no action was taken. Madden's claims against Kay, as well as similar claims made by other women, were reported on June 26, 2008 by WTXF-Fox News (Philadelphia). A clip of the coverage is on-line at http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/FOX_Investigates_Child_Support_Worker_Harassed_Moms Madden was represented in her suit by Michael Aimino, Esq. of Woodbury. None of Madden's allegations have been proven or disproven in court. The settlement agreement expressly states that the $21,000 payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by Kay or anyone else. All that is known for sure is that the State, for whatever reason, decided that it would rather pay Madden $21,000 than take the matter to trial. Perhaps the State's decision to settle was done to save further legal expense and the costs of trying what were in fact exaggerated or meritless claims. Or, perhaps Madden's claims were true and State wanted to avoid being embarrassed at trial. This is the problem when cases settle before trial--it is impossible to know the truth of what really happened.

Documents:

Return to Top of Page

For comments and suggestions, click here
New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project: State pays $21,000 to settle claim against "sex talk" Camden Probation Officer. August 20, 2009.
URL: http://ogtf.lpcnj.org/2009231ui/
Copyright © 2004-2009 Libertarian Party of Central New Jersey
Site provisioning by The Web Warren.