Little Egg Shells Out $140,000 To Settle Sex Harassment Suit

The Little Egg Harbor Municipal Utilities Authority recently agreed to pay a senior MUA clerk $140,000 after she claimed the MUA's executive director repeatedly sexually harassed her, according to NJ Civil Settlements.

Nicole Kelely said in her complaint that Executive Director David Johnson stopped by her house after work hours, was visibly intoxicated when he approached her and her friends at a local club and told her he was unhappy with this marriage and asked to be her "sugar daddy," according to the site.

Johnson then followed her out into the parking lot, grabbed her and forcibly kissed her with his tongue in her mouth, according to Kelley's complaint.

The MUA earlier this year agreed to pay Kelley $140,000. Of that amount, 15 percent will be paid by the MUA, thr remainder will be paid by the MUA's insurer, according to the post.

Johnson is no longer the MUA's executive director. His last meeting was on Sept. 9, 2014, four months before Kelley's complaint was filed.

Johnson's final annual salary was $205,526. He is paid an annual pension of $103,051, according to
DataUniverse.

The sexual harassment continued and Kelley claims she was subjected to retaliation at work. Her doctor advised her to take a medical leave of absence because of stress. Kelley was later fired for making unauthorized copies of material for an OPRA request, the suit states.

The case is captioned Kelley v. Little Egg Harbor,MUA, et al, Ocean County Superior Court Docket No. OCN-L-3787-14 and Kelley's attorney was Leo B. Dubler III of Mount Laurel. Case documents are on-line here.

None of Kelley's allegations have been proven or disproven in court. Settlement agreements typically state that payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by any of the defendants. All that is known for sure is that Little Egg Harbor or its insurer, for whatever reason, decided that it would rather pay Kelley $140,000 than take the matter to trial, according to NJ Civil Settlements.