Katie Brennan sues New Jersey, Murphy campaign and Al Alvarez over alleged sexual assault

Jan. 8, 2019

Excerpts:

Brennan claims she was assaulted by Alvarez in April 2017 after a Murphy campaign event. She said she told multiple people on Murphy's transition team and in the administration about the alleged assault. Still, Alvarez was given high-ranking employment in Murphy's orbit until he resigned as chief of staff at the Schools Development Authority in October, when he faced questions from the Journal about the alleged assault.

Brennan emailed Murphy over the summer about a sensitive matter she wanted to discuss with him, but said she did not provide details. Murphy said he didn't learn about the nature of her email until October.

Murphy, whose office declined to comment on the lawsuit, has said he believes that the people who were aware of the allegation handled them properly but the system for reporting misconduct may be at fault for the breakdown that allowed Alvarez to be hired in his administration. In the lawsuit, McClure said the Murphy campaign did not maintain an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy or provide training on those issues. It also contends that multiple people in the administration violated state policy in handling her claim by not properly referring it to the proper state authority.

On Tuesday, an attorney for Murphy's campaign, Paul Josephson, disputed the lawsuit's assertion that the campaign did not have anti-discrimination and harassment policies. He said there was a 27-page employee handbook with "well-defined anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and procedures," and that it was distributed to each employee. There was also staff training on those topics, he said.

Josephson also noted that Brennan did not bring her allegation to the campaign, but waited until the transition to the governorship.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/governor/2019/01/07/katie-brennan-nj-sues-murphy-campaign-alvarez-alleged-sexual-assault/2503805002/