The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit yesterday against Cumberland County over sexual harassment and retaliation of employees related to former County Solid Waste Department Director Mike Harvel.

Court documents state ten women are included in the lawsuit that were recipients of improper actions by Harvel who acted at that time as the supervisor over them. The victims are not identified by name in the suit and states the actions of Harvel and the failure to act by the county to stop the harassment along with the lack of a working sexual harassment policy.

An investigation into the charges of discrimination found reasonable cause to believe that Cumberland County violated Title VII when it discriminated against the charging parties and similarly situated employees.

The lawsuit indicates between at least February 2015 and February 2018, Harvel subjected female employees of the Solid Waste Department to unwelcome, non-consensual sexual contact and unwelcome sexual advances. The document states Harvel’s conduct was both repeated and sufficiently severe and/or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of their employment and allegedly threatened to rape at least one woman.

The 10 women found Harvel’s sexual contact, sexual advances, and offensive sexual remarks to be unwelcome, and many went to repeated efforts to get him to stop. The lawsuit states graphic incidents.

Harvel was arrested and indicted on sexual battery, assault, and official misconduct in February 2018. That case is still pending in Cumberland County Criminal Court.

After being notified of one of the women’s (party 1 as in the lawsuit) charge, then County Mayor Kenneth Carey reportedly told then-Interim Director of the Solid Waste Department Kimberly Patterson to “get rid of” Charging Party 1. Patterson understood that Carey wanted Charging Party 1 fired because she had filed an  U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge. After Charging Party 1 filed the EEOC charge, Cumberland County reportedly began to remove her employment privileges and change the conditions of her employment.

The suit also indicates during Harvel’s tenure, the county lacked an effective sexual harassment policy.

It further states five of the women reported Harvel’s harassment to their superiors at the recycling center. These complaints did not lead to any action by the county. Others did not complain because they did not believe County Mayor Carey would be impartial based on his personal relationship with Harvel. They also feared termination if they reported the incidents.

The lawsuit concludes with stating the county’s failure to take reasonable steps resulted in the women losing their salary and other benefits of employment, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, and other non-pecuniary losses.

The lawsuit requests a jury trial with a date to be determined soon.

Here is the lawsuit in its entirety. 105.7 News warns readers of graphic language in the lawsuit:

Harvel CC lawsuit US Justice