NJ Detective Sues Prosecutor's Office For Gender Discrimination

SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ — A 24-year veteran detective of the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office is suing her employer for gender discrimination.

Detective Sgt. Kimberly Baeli is accusing the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office, more specifically Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Sahil K. Kabse and Chief Nicholas Elmo, of prioritizing the promotion of “less qualified” male employees over her own advancement.

“Throughout her tenure with the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office ("SCPO"), Plaintiff was repeatedly passed over for promotion in favor of less qualified male colleagues,” the suit, filed June 18, reads. “Despite an exemplary record and extensive experience across nearly every investigative unit in the SCPO, Plaintiff faced systematic gender discrimination, retaliation for protected activity, and a hostile work environment.”

Baeli joined the SCPO in 2001 after serving as a probation officer in Fulton County, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the Division of Criminal Justice Academy in Sea Girt before working in the SCPO’s Juvenile Unit.

The suit says that throughout Baeli’s career, she’d completed "extensive training, received numerous commendations and notes of appreciation from the community, and has excelled in her work.”

Additionally, her work has seen “extensive praise” from several entities, including the Sussex County Judicial Center, the Sussex County Fire Academy, the NJ State Police, and more, according to court documents.

Despite this success, according to the lawsuit, she was constantly passed over for promotions in favor of her male colleagues.

Between 2002 and 2005, the SCPO hired four male detectives, two of whom were eventually fired for drug/alcohol issues, who were all promoted ahead of Baeli despite having “less experience and/or serious performance issues,” the suit says.

In 2012, Baeli was promoted to Detective I alongside Jason Garrigan, who was hired after her. Garrigan was promoted to Detective Sergeant just two years later, while Baeli didn’t receive the title until 2016.

The suit claims that Garrigan was promoted for stealing PBA documents, which contained evidence of administrators committing violations, from Baeli’s locked filing cabinet. The suit adds that Baeli’s superiors admitted the theft occurred, and that Baeli should have been promoted, but no corrective action was taken.

In addition, Baeli was told by then-Chief Thomas McCormick not to file an internal affairs complaint against Garrison, due to fear that Garrison would retaliate with knowledge of McCormick’s “extramarital affairs and misconduct,” the suit reads.

Since becoming a Detective Sergeant in 2016, Baeli hasn’t been promoted, according to the claim. Meanwhile, other “less qualified men” have advanced in the department, court documents say.

Baeli has tried to file several internal affairs investigations regarding the discrimination and misconduct; however, no investigation was ever launched.

The suit also accuses several SCPO administrators of misconduct, including drinking and driving, internal affairs failures, misuse of DMV database, and “use of unlawful and illegal ‘admin time’ by supervisors resulting in approximately $300,000 of taxpayer-funded salaries.”

“Ms. Baeli’s ordeal reflects a deeply embedded culture of favoritism toward male officers, suppression of complaints, and retaliation against whistleblowers,” the lawsuit reads. “She seeks redress for the career, financial, emotional, and health toll exacted by Defendants’ discriminatory and unlawful conduct.”

The suit highlights six legal claims, including gender discrimination in promotions, hostile work environment on the basis of gender, aiding and abetting unlawful discrimination, and retaliation.