BROOKLYN (CN) - Nassau County's Office of Minority Affairs threatened, sexually harassed and retaliated against a woman who discovered that it paid women less than similarly situated men, a former Affirmative Action supervisor claims in Federal Court.
Alana Smith, a former program supervisor for the county's Affirmative Action and Diversity Management Initiative, says her analysis of the office's employee data revealed "some disturbing patterns," including "a gender pay disparity in the title of Deputy Director."
Female employees, she said, regularly received only 4% pay increases while most of the men got 5% to 13% raises. She says, "the lowest paid male employee still earned more than the highest paid female employee," and "to this day, these same practices exist county wide."
She says she submitted her analysis at an office meeting, and recommended that her direct supervisor Dean Bennett be replaced by a woman "that is receiving less pay for the same job duties and responsibilities."
Months later, Smith says, Bennett "engaged in threatening behavior toward her."
She also claims that program director Luis Mendez "physically bumped into her buttocks," pretending to be pushed into her by a crowd.
Smith is represented by Eric Sanders with Jeffrey L. Goldberg's law office.
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