Piscataway Fire Co. Pays Female Firefighter $325K In Harassment Suit

PISCATAWAY, NJ — Piscataway Fire District No. 3 and Arbor Hose Company No. 1 reached a settlement with an ex-firefighter who said she was sexually harassed because she was the firehouse's first female firefighter, and a lesbian.

The woman is Kira Castellon, who lives in Piscataway.

On May 23, the fire district and Arbor fire house — where she was stationed — agreed to pay Castellon $325,000 to resolve her sex harassment allegations. In the settlement, the fire houses did not admit any wrongdoing and Castellon agreed to drop her lawsuit against them.

As Patch reported when she first filed her lawsuit in 2020, Castellon was a volunteer firefighter with Arbor Hose Company #1. She joined as a volunteer in 2015.

Castellon made allegations mostly against one man: Fellow volunteer firefighter Cesar Valenzuela-Sihuas. He was hired in 2016, one year after she was, and once he joined the department, he subjected her to sexual harassment "on an almost daily basis."

Valenzuela-Sihuas told her "Get on your knees and I’ll make you straight again," she alleges.

He said this to her at least 10 times, she says.

"On an almost daily basis from late 2016 through January 2019, (he) thrust his pelvis into plaintiff from all directions as his way of saying hello and goodbye," alleged her lawsuit. "(He) groped and kissed (her) on the mouth without her consent."

She said he "licked her face as a greeting, approached her from behind and gave her completely unwarranted hugs from the rear, continued to thrust his pelvis into he and groped her breasts in view of other employees."

She said fellow firefighters witnessed the harassment, and they would usually laugh about it or ignore it.

"The sexual harassment was open and notorious, which became widely known throughout the firehouse," read her lawsuit.

Castellon said she reported the harassment to her supervisors several times but nothing happened. Castellon said she sought to file a written complaint, but was informed by a chief “We don’t do that here," who instead said he would talk to Valenzuela-Sihuas himself.

Castellon was fired as a volunteer firefighter on Oct. 30, 2019 after the fire company said she used Arbor Hose’s tax-exempt ID number to make purchases for herself at the local Sam’s Club.

Castellon contends the items she bought were for use at the firehouse, and that she was fired as retaliation for reporting the harassment.

She filed her lawsuit after she was fired. Castellon initially sued Piscataway Township in addition to the two firehouses, but she later agreed to remove the Township from her suit. The fire districts are run by independently elected officials and are separate from Piscataway Township.

Arbor Hose Company reports to the elected commissioners of Fire District 3.

Castellon was represented by Paul Castronovo of Castronovo & McKinney of Morristown.

Her lawsuit and the settlement are publicly available here: https://drive.google.com/file/...

Her settlement with the fire house was first reported in Transparency NJ, written by John Paff.

Prior: Piscataway Firefighter Sues Township, Alleging Sexual Harassment (2020)

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Piscataway Township settled with Castellon. That is not correct. Piscataway Township was removed from her lawsuit. It was Piscataway Fire District No. 3 and Arbor Hose Company No. 1 that agreed to pay a $325,000 settlement to Castellon.