MTA worker Catherine Gonzalez accused her boss of discriminating her "proper from the get go," as a consequence of her homosexual standing.
Helayne Seidman
An MTA dispatcher claims her boss made so many “snide” remarks when she tried to make use of the restroom, she was afraid to go — and ended up with kidney stones, in response to a $2 million lawsuit.
Catherine Gonzalez, 53, says the alleged harassment from co-worker Mervin Reovan — together with spitting on her on the peak of the pandemic — started when she acquired promoted from bus driver to dispatcher.
The veteran worker was the one feminine dispatcher at her office and claims she was “mistreated proper from the get go,” she informed The Submit.
Gonzalez was “singled out” for being a Puerto Rican lesbian, she fees in her papers filed towards the MTA and Reovan in Manhattan Federal Courtroom.
“He didn’t like the truth that I’m a lesbian… he simply couldn’t deal with that. I stroll like a man, I've sure masculine mannerisms,” Gonzalez stated. “I couldn’t do something to win him over.”
Different dispatchers acquired their very own keys to the lavatory, however Gonzalez stated she needed to cease close to Reovan’s desk to retrieve one each time she wanted to alleviate herself.
The alleged harassment — which additionally allegedly included a supervisor who allegedly informed her she would “wind up going again to driving the bus” if she took day without work — left her so distraught she stated she developed kidney stones, in response to court docket papers.
She then postpone wanted surgical procedure till her year-long probationary interval ended, leaving her in “excruciating ache.”
“I used to be so afraid that I stated ‘ what, I’m gonna maintain myself,’” Gonzalez stated. “So I find yourself holding myself and the entire sudden, in the future, I wind up falling over [in pain] at dwelling.”
Gonzalez transferred from the Bronx to Manhattan to keep away from Reovan. However the MTA moved him to the identical location — the place he grew to become her supervisor, she says within the court docket papers.
That’s when the harassment acquired even worse, she claims.
Reovan would usually develop indignant, even spitting on her on the peak of the pandemic, stated Gonzalez. He gave her a slew of disciplinary infractions for small errors, tried to pressure her to work double and triple shifts, and ordered 35 whole days of unpaid suspension, she fees within the authorized submitting.
“He was making an attempt to make my life a dwelling hell,” Gonzalez stated.
John Hague, Gonzalez’s lawyer, informed The Submit he hopes “her case brings about constructive change within the MTA, as everybody deserves to be handled with respect and dignity at work.”
An MTA spokesperson declined to remark. Reovan didn't reply to requests for remark.
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