NJ School Bus Aide Wouldn’t Sleep With Boss, So He Fired Her: DCR

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The owner of an Essex County transportation company will have to pay a former school bus aide more than $250,000 after he fired her as retaliation for refusing his sexual advances, state officials say.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced that an administrative law judge ordered Curtis Horn, owner of Irvington-based Tyce Transportation, to pay a former employee $258,568 for his “egregious” sexual harassment, which took place between 2010 and 2012.

The victim’s identity was withheld for privacy reasons, the DCR stated.

The harassed employee earned $8.50 per hour working four hours a day, five days a week, on a bus route for special needs students attending the Center for Autism, the DCR stated.

According to state officials, Horn subjected the former worker to persistent verbal and physical sexual harassment while she was working for the company. For example, Horn allegedly made offensive sexual propositions and comments to the woman, including telling her that she would “look good in his bed.” Horn then lured the complainant into his office, locked the door and grabbed her and started kissing her. Although the woman escaped his grasp, Horn refused to unlock the door until he heard someone approaching.

The harassed employee repeatedly rejected Horn’s unwanted sexual advances and sought help from a co-worker, an administrative law judge found.

When Horn was confronted with the sexual harassment, he cut her hours. Eventually, Horn lied to her that the Center for Autism bus route contract had been lost and terminated her employment. The out-of-work employee later learned that her route had continued with a newly-hired bus aide, state officials said.

The DCR investigated the complaint and issued a finding of probable cause. An attempt at conciliation didn’t resolve the matter and in April 2018, the DCR began prosecuting the case in the Office of Administrative Law.

In January 2019 – after repeated failure by Horn to respond to various filings and motions in the case by the DCR – an administrative law judge issued an initial decision crediting the former employee’s allegations, and finding that Horn had engaged in sexual harassment and retaliatory firing.

According to state officials, the administrative law judge found the fired worker’s testimony “credible,” but dismissed Horn’s denials as “not believable” and reminiscent of “a person trying to persuade that the impossible happened.”

On August 12, DCR Director Wainer Apter issued a final decision, ordering Horn to pay the compensation, statutory penalties and other costs recommended by the administrative law judge. Apter also ordered implementation of various LAD-related policy and training reforms at Tyce Transportation.

Among those reforms, Tyce Transportation and any company or business in which Horn is affiliated must develop an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy that is consistent with the LAD, and undergo LAD training, state officials said.

In addition, Tyce and Horn must report to DCR any complaints of discrimination or harassment they receive for a period of three years.

In addition to paying the ex-employee a total of $258,568 to compensate for her emotional distress and lost wages, Horn also has been ordered to pay the state a total of $37,870. That amount covers a statutory penalty, as well as the state’s investigative costs. Altogether, Horn’s required payout totals $296,438.

“There simply is no room in the workplace – or any other place – for sexual harassment. Everyone has a right to do his or her job free of unwanted sexual innuendo, inappropriate touching and unwelcome sexual advances,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said.

“Business owners, managers and supervisors should understand that there can be significant financial and reputational consequences for tolerating workplace harassment,” Grewal added.

“For far too long, people have considered sexual harassment to be ‘business as usual’… it’s not,” DCR Director Rachel Wainer Apter said. “No one should have to accept harassment as an everyday part of his or her job, and we are here to ensure that no one will have to.”

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