A New York Police Department captain has already been prosecuted twice for allegedly mistreating female officers, after being the subject of an NBC News investigation into sexual harassment and gender discrimination in big city law enforcement Two new lawsuits had to be faced.
Captain Salvatore Marches has been accused of sexual harassment or gender discrimination in four cases since 2013. The 2013 case, involving an officer who alleged he forced her to perform oral sex, was settled for $100,000, documents show. In August 2022, he was sued for allegedly harassing a pregnant officer and forcing her to work overnight shifts.
Two new lawsuits filed Wednesday against Marchese and the city allege Marchese coerced female subordinates — including a lieutenant — into becoming pregnant or carrying his children. In the case that was settled, there was no admission of wrongdoing and Marquez has denied wrongdoing in all of his responses to the lawsuit.
The NYPD promoted Marquez to captain in 2018 and assigned him to run stationhouses in Manhattan and the Bronx, NYPD personnel records show.
Plaintiff in one of the two new lawsuits, former lieutenant Ebony Huntley, said, “It’s really strange how they let this guy go from one command to another, treating people like that.” The single mother, who as a black female lieutenant was rare in the NYPD, said she retired early to avoid Marchese’s abuse.
“Shame on this department for allowing this to happen,” Huntley said.
An NBC News investigation in December found the NYPD grapples with sexual harassment and gender discrimination against female officers, among some of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies. A review of more than 60 cases since 2017 that were settled or won at trial, thousands of pages of internal police documents and interviews with female officers found that women who speak out often lose their careers, while many men do. have to suffer very few consequences.
Of the 87 NYPD officers, including Marches, accused in court papers of mistreating female officers, 27 have since moved up the ranks, according to an NBC News review.
Marquez did not respond to requests for comment. The New York City Law Department, which legally represents the city, and Marquez’s union representative at the Captain’s Endowment Association also did not respond.
In a statement, the NYPD declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but said, “The department does not tolerate discrimination in any form and is committed to a respectful work environment for our diverse workforce. The NYPD thoroughly investigates all complaints it receives, and offers several reporting options for NYPD employees, including anonymously.
“The NYPD has been taking notice of Marches’ blatant behavior of women for over a decade, yet has failed to take corrective action,” said attorney John Scola, who is representing Huntley and two other women. , which are pending against Marches’ alleged lawsuit. Behaviour
Prior to crossing paths with Marches, Huntley had worked for the department for 20 years as a narcotics officer, a detective and a street sergeant.
“I’m not soft,” said Huntley.
Huntley said things changed when Marches took over as boss in September 2022.
Officer Ange Alvarez filed a lawsuit in August alleging that Marchesi, who ran an isolated stationhouse in the Bronx, presided over a toxic work environment and refused to remove her from overnight shifts when she was pregnant. That matter is currently under investigation.
The department moved Marquez to the stationhouse where Huntley worked in Upper Manhattan.
“I was like, ‘Hey, he can’t be that bad,'” Huntley said.
Tensions flared, she said, when he refused Marchese’s demand that he punish a female officer who complained about Marchese’s alleged abuse while she was pregnant and after the birth of her child. Huntley said he rejected Marchese’s demand that he refuse to discharge the officer and take over his functions.
That officer, Elizabeth Munoz, filed her own gender discrimination lawsuit this week against Marchis and the city of New York, the fourth such lawsuit against the captain. Like Huntley and Alvarez, she is represented by Scola.
Huntley said that once he defended Muñoz, the retaliation began. She said Marchese would reprimand her, openly insulting her in front of other police.
“This is more than just a hostile environment. It is disgusting. It has affected the lives of every person in this command in a negative way,” said a male officer working at the police station. The officer, who asked not to be named to NBC News Because she is not authorized to speak publicly, said the NYPD’s current police commissioner, the first woman to run the department, “there should be zero tolerance for discrimination against any woman on this job.”
Things got so bad, Huntley alleged in his complaint, that five of his sergeants complained about Marches’s behavior to Internal Affairs.
Huntley said she had been under Marchese’s supervision for less than four months. She said she had no choice but to retire in early January after he fired her midnight shift. She said that he ignored her pleas that he had to take care of a young son and father who was suffering from cancer.
“I’m a woman, I’m black, I’m a single parent. It’s been absolutely tough,” Huntley said. “I didn’t deserve the way this man treated me.”
