A former Trenton public employee has settled her sexual harassment suit with the city for $100,000.
Caristina Nunez alleged in a 2022 suit that Housing and Economic Development director Benjamin Delisle made several comments to her at work, including that she was “hot,” “cute” and mentioned her “hot Latina blood.”
And he once said: “You wish I was your daddy.”
Nunez began working for the city in August 2017 as a clerk in the mayor’s office under former Mayor Eric Jackson. When Reed Gusciora took office in the summer of 2018, the new administration transferred her to Housing and Economic Development.
Her lawyer, Patrick J. Whalen, said he could not discuss specifics of the settlement but was glad his client could put the matter to rest.
City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The City Council voted 4-2 on Feb. 4 to approve the settlement. East Ward Councilman Joseph Harrison and South Ward Councilwoman Jenna L. Figueroa Kettenburg voted against settling. At-large Councilwoman Yazminelly Gonzalez was absent from the vote, the resolution says.
The city terminated Nunez in December 2020.
Delisle left city employment in 2021 and filed his own suit against the city that year alleging he was forced out by Gusciora over improper demolition of city buildings.
The city settled Delisle’s lawsuit in February 2023 for $150,000.
Nunez’s allegations came to light through another legal matter.
Initially fearful of reporting Delisle, she disclosed it during an interview with then assistant city attorney, Jacqueline Abdur-Razzaq, who was investigating a claim by another employee, Tanzania Green, according to the lawsuit.
Green had alleged that Delisle used the n-word in front of her while talking about the City Council. According to Nunez’s suit, Green had told her about the incident.
Gusciora and then-City Attorney John Morelli eventually learned of Nunez’s sexual harassment complaints, and the city forced her to resign, her suit claimed.
Green, Abdur-Razzaq, and Morelli were all either fired or forced out of their jobs, according to separate lawsuit. Each subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Trenton.
The city settled with Morelli for $385,000 and Green for $175,000 in April 2023.
Abdur-Razzaq’s suit is pending in Superior Court of Mercer County. Whalen is her lawyer.
Stories by Kevin Shea
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Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com
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