The Hub is reporting today that Red Bank Parking Director Neil Burnip is on leave from his post pending completion of an investigation into a sexual harrassment complaint lodged against him by another Borough Hall employee.
The name of the accuser and the particulars of the allegation are not given. Borough officials have declined to comment.
Borough Labor Attorney Jamie Plosia is conducting the probe, and a police official told the Hub’s Layli White that the department is not involved in the investigation.
The Hub reports that neither Burnip nor his attorney, Todd Wallman, could be reached for comment.
Burnip was the accuser in a 2005 tort claim in which he contended that Councilman John Curley and then-councilwoman Jennifer Beck had created a hostile work environment by citing his nationality in campaign literature that challenged the necessity of Burnip’s hiring.
Burnip is a native of England and came to the U.S. from Scotland to take the parking director job in 2002.
Plosia, who also investigated that complaint, found one instance of a “stray remark” about Burnip’s nationality, but that neither Curley nor Beck, who is now a member of the state Assembly, had violated Burnip’s rights. Curley, though, was required to attend sensitivity training. The Borough Council accepted Plosia’s report last April.
The Hub reports that Burnip has not foreclosed the possibility of a civil lawsuit against Curley and Beck.
