Millburn Official Claims Deputy Mayor Harassed Her Near Bathroom: Complaint

This story was updated on Dec. 20 to include comments from Mayor Tara Prupis.

MILLBURN, NJ — Millburn Township Committeewoman Dianne Eglow filed a written sexual harassment complaint against Deputy Mayor Richard Wasserman following a Nov. 9 committee meeting.

According to Eglow’s complaint, Wasserman made a verbal sexual comment to Eglow during a recess in the meeting. Wasserman has since denied that there was anything sexual in his comment and said that he has filed a harassment complaint against Eglow in response.

Around three and a half hours into the meeting — at around 10:30 p.m. — Mayor Tara Prupis announced that she and Eglow would recuse themselves from the meeting, as the committee was going to discuss a zoning ordinance about which the two members had a conflict of interest.

Wasserman, as deputy mayor, was put in charge of chairing the meeting while he and the two other committee members — Maggee Miggins and Sanjeev Vinayak — voted on this ordinance.

As Prupis and Eglow were leaving the room, Wasserman called for a two-minute recess.

However, Eglow said she was not aware that Wasserman had called for a recess and assumed the meeting was still going on. When she saw Wasserman in an adjoining room on the way to the bathroom, she said she asked Wasserman why he was there instead of running the meeting.

According to the complaint, Wasserman responded, “I have to go to the bathroom, would you like to come in and watch?”

Prupis said she witnessed the incident and that it is currently being investigated by the town's labor attorney.

"Wasserman’s behavior was crude and unacceptable," Prupis said in an email. "This is not what we expect from members of the Millburn Township Committee."

Eglow said that she informed Wasserman, as well as Business Administrator Alex McDonald and Township Attorney Christopher Falcon, that she would be filing a sexual harassment complaint with the township the following day.

Patch reached out to McDonald for a comment, but he did not respond upon request.

Wasserman has since released a statement, which read, in part:

“I want to vehemently deny this allegation. I did not harass Committeewoman Eglow and have never been accused of harassing anyone in my lifetime. This is simply a political ploy to damage my reputation and retaliate for my work on flood mitigation, which has kept the real estate developers and landlords off of the township flood mitigation committee.

“I do have a documented medical disability which requires me to use the bathroom frequently. As someone who I have served with for two years, Committeewoman Eglow knew that I take frequent bathroom breaks. She tried to stop me from going to the bathroom at the November 9th meeting.

"I am shocked and appalled by her behavior and still can’t believe that she could act this way because of my disability. There was nothing sexual about my statement to her that I had to immediately get to the men’s room. I am very disappointed with the way she is trying to take advantage of my disability for political gain.

Wasserman said he has filed a complaint against Eglow for harassment. He said he has also retained an attorney to defend his reputation.

Wasserman said his complaint has been filed with the township and is in the process of being investigated.

In her complaint, Eglow requested that Wasserman make a formal apology at a public meeting, reporting his comments. She also said he should be instructed to complete an anti-harassment course.

“I do not believe Mr. Wasserman [to be] a good representative to sit on the Millburn Township Committee,” Eglow said in the complaint. “He should resign or at a minimum be denied the leadership position of mayor or deputy mayor in the future.”

Eglow said this was a single incident, and she has not experienced harassment from Wasserman prior to this incident.

Wasserman also said the two had previously run for office together, and she never had any complaints against him while they were running mates.

On Jan. 4, the Township Committee will hold a reorganization meeting in which the committee will select a new mayor. The committee member selected for this position must receive at least three votes to become mayor.

The last Township Committee meeting of the year will also be held on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

The council has recently battled over issues such as affordable housing and a proposed Flood Committee.

People can watch the Nov. 9 meeting referred to in this complaint here.

Get a free morning newsletter with news in Millburn or another town: https://patch.com/subscribe