'How Big Is Your Monster?' Mendham Twp. Police Chief Sues Town Officials for Sexual Harassment

Nearly three months after Mendham Township Police Chief Steven Crawford filed a tort claim putting his employer on notice for a potential sexual harassment case, the lawsuit is now official and reveals alleged happenings between the top cop and other town employees and officials.

Crawford’s lawsuit names former township administrator Amey Upchurch and current committee members Samuel Tolley and Maribeth Thomas along with former committeeman Richard Merkt, who is now employed as the town administrator for neighboring Mendham Borough, dailyrecord.com reported.

Crawford is seeking punitive damages for civil rights violations, hostile work environment, defamation and slander by Upchurch and other claims.

In the suit, the report said, Crawford claims Upchurch asked the chief, “How big is your monster?” in reference to his genitals, and suggested the 47-year-old liked young girls and had an underage girlfriend.

Upchurch resigned her post over the summer shortly before Crawford’s tort claim was made public.

In July, when the tort claim was filed, Merkt told Patch, “It is odd that the Chief never mentioned any complaint about sexual harassment to me, although I served on the Township Committee from early 2011 until September 2014. Not even a hint. Nor am I aware of the Chief complaining to anyone else on the Township Committee, so his complaint appears to be of recent vintage.

“Unfortunately, Chief Crawford took it upon himself to stage a self-serving press conference concerning a pending litigation against the Township without notice to or approval from the Mayor or any other elected official,” Merkt continued. “The governing body was understandably unhappy about being “blindsided” in this manner by their employee. So, if the relationship between the Chief and the elected officials was strained at that time, it was clearly due to the Chief’s own actions.”