Jury awards ex-Bayonne City Hall employee $500k for hostile work environment

A Hudson County jury has awarded a former Bayonne City Hall employee $500,000, unanimously deciding that she was subjected to a hostile work environment after a trial that spanned nearly six weeks.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

A $500,000 verdict was awarded to Sincerrae Ross today after a trial presided over by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Espinales-Maloney.

“Sincerrae waited a long time for this day and Ms. Ross is grateful for the verdict and award, as are we,” said Ross’ counsel in the matter Juan Cervantes, of Wall-based law firm Maggs McDermott & DiCicco.

City spokesman Joe Ryan did not return an email seeking comment on Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed all the way back on December 6th, 2019, saw Ross allege that City Hall was “a sexually charged hostile work environment and a culture of sex within the work place,” as HCV first reported.

A memorandum of decision issued today by Espinales-Maloney denied punitive damages for Ross, since there was no unequivocal proof that city directors acted with malice or blatant disregard for her complaints.

“Ultimately, for the aforesaid reasons, the Court finds that, even when giving Plaintiff the benefit of all inferences as required by R. 4:37-2(b), there is no competent evidence in this trial record that the City’s upper management employees acted with either actual malice or wanton and willful disregard of Plaintiff’s complaints to otherwise entitle Plaintiff to punitive damages,” the judge concluded.

“Thus, the Court is granting the City’s motion for a directed verdict as to the punitive damages claim of Plaintiff’s Complaint pursuant to R. 4:37-2(b). As such, Plaintiff’s punitive damages claim is hereby dismissed with prejudice.”

Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis is currently running for Hudson County sheriff with the backing of the county Democrats, challenging incumbent Frank Schillari – who is on Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s gubernatorial ticket for the June 10th primary.

Last month, Schillari took aim at his opponent, stating that he should drop out of the race if won’t recognize “his mistreatment of women,” referring to a $450,000 settlement with former employee Stacie Percella (half of that was to resolve her “sexting” case) and two upcoming trials – including this one.

Through campaign spokesman Paul Swibinski, the sheriff was eager to celebrate this afternoon’s verdict.

“The Ross decision is another nail in Jimmy Davis’ political coffin,” Swibinski began.

“That’s $950,00 that two women who were harassed, abused and mistreated have collected from Bayonne taxpayers with at least two more lawsuits pending. He should withdraw from the race. Jimmy Davis is too creepy to be Sheriff.”

HCDO Executive Director Storm Wyche referred to the recent attacks from Schillari’s team as a “smear campaign” that has been purposely misleading.

“The Sheriff and his handlers recently launched a smear campaign against Jimmy Davis, dredging up 15-year-old allegations and twisting the facts in an attempt to distract voters from his own failures,” she said.

“In one ad, Schillari claims Jimmy Davis cost taxpayers $450,000 in a lawsuit settlement. What he conveniently omits is that the settlement covered two separate cases—one of which predates Jimmy Davis’s time in office entirely. In the second case, Jimmy Davis was dismissed as a defendant. Again, we ask, why are the Sheriff and his handlers deliberately misleading the public?”

Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from Hudson County Democratic Organization Executive Director Storm Wyche.