N.J. mayor told me he needed prostate massage, town clerk says in lawsuit - NJ.com

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A former clerk for Palisades Park in Bergen County has filed a lawsuit against the borough, claiming the mayor sexually harassed her for years and once told her he needed a prostate massage.

Mayor Paul Kim regularly made inappropriate remarks to the clerk, who now works in another municipality, including telling her in front of others “how good she smelled,” and that she had been mistaken for a prostitute at a convention, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 18 in Superior Court of Bergen County.

“Paul Kim subjected (the clerk) to sexually harassing behavior that was both severe and pervasive, aptly described as grotesque,” states the lawsuit.

Kim and borough officials did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The clerk served as secretary to the mayor and council, assuming duties as the election official and chief registrar for voters in Palisades Park, and also functioned as the borough’s administrative officer, according the the lawsuit.

Kim knew the clerk had been raised in a traditional Korean-American household and was aware of the cultural values and respect for authority her parents had instilled in her, the lawsuit states.

Kim “used this knowledge and understanding as a weapon to intimidate and harass (the clerk),” the suit states.

In November 2019, Kim humiliated the woman by telling her in front of other borough employees that she had been mistaken for a prostitute at the League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City, according to the suit.

On another occasion, Kim stated in front of the clerk that he was feeling discomfort down there, pointed to his crotch, and “expressed a need for a prostate massage,” the suit states.

Kim’s harassment included describing a councilman having sex with his wife, even after the clerk asked him to stop, the lawsuit said.

“Kim only laughed and persisted with the story, seeming to enjoy even more that the graphical sexual recitation was making (the clerk) very uncomfortable,” the suit says.

The lawsuit says the clerk asked the mayor “on many occasions” to respect her personal space and stop telling stories with graphic sexual imagery, but he allegedly ignored her.

The woman filed grievances about Kim with the borough’s labor attorney no fewer than a dozen times from Sept. 15, 2023, to Dec. 12, 2023, the suit says.

On Oct. 24, 2023, Kim attempted to have the clerk served with a Rice Notice in retaliation for her complaints, according to the suit. A Rice Notice is a notification from a public body that it is going to discuss an individual’s future employment or possible termination in an upcoming meeting.

Despite Kim’s attempts to have the clerk served with papers, however, the borough’s attorney at the time refused to issue the notice, the suit says.

The lawsuit says the clerk stopped attending public meetings in October 2023 because of public harassment and retaliation from the mayor, which was allegedly a result of her filing complaints, according the the lawsuit.

After several more months of harassment from the mayor, the clerk resigned April 4, the suit says. In an email to the acting borough administrator, the woman detailed the reasons for her “forced resignation,” the lawsuit says.

She eventually took another clerk job in another New Jersey township at a 51% pay cut, the suit says.

The woman alleges a hostile work environment and violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.