Phillipsburg female police officer alleges sexual harassment, retaliation in lawsuit against town, department and officers
PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. (Warren County) — Phillipsburg’s first female police officer has filed a civil lawsuit accusing the Town of Phillipsburg, its police department and two officers of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation during her employment with the department.
Haley Fitzpatrick of Warren County filed the complaint Aug. 10 in Superior Court in Morris County against the Town of Phillipsburg, Phillipsburg Police Department, a sergeant and a patrol officer. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief.
According to the lawsuit, Fitzpatrick began working as a Phillipsburg patrol officer around February 2024 and was the only female officer in a department of approximately 40 to 50 officers. She alleges male officers made sexual comments in her presence, complained about working with a female officer and made other comments about her gender.
The complaint alleges that during the week of March 15, 2025, a patrol officer asked Fitzpatrick to stand next to him while watching body-worn camera footage and then put his hand between her legs and grabbed the back of her thigh. Fitzpatrick alleges she knocked his hand away and later told several officers about what happened.
The lawsuit also contains numerous allegations involving a sergeant. Fitzpatrick alleges the sergeant repeatedly made sexual and demeaning comments toward her between July 2025 and May 2026, including comments about her former boyfriend, perceived sexual orientation, sex life and body, and engaged in other sexually suggestive conduct in front of fellow officers.
Fitzpatrick alleges she repeatedly told the sergeant to stop and asked why he constantly belittled her in front of others. According to the lawsuit, he responded that he did so because it was funny and made himself and other people laugh.
The lawsuit alleges Fitzpatrick complained about the sergeant’s conduct to supervisors and other officers but that corrective action was not taken for more than a year. The complaint alleges that when she told two supervisors she was uncomfortable working under the sergeant, each responded, “That’s just Mike.”
According to the lawsuit, the department opened a formal Internal Affairs investigation May 12, 2026. Fitzpatrick alleges she later spoke with the police chief about remaining in the sergeant’s shift rotation while the investigation was pending and told him she had been hiding in her car and locker room to avoid the sergeant.
The complaint states that the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau concluded its investigation July 1 and sustained a finding that the sergeant violated the department’s discrimination and harassment policy in connection with a May 9 comment. According to the lawsuit, Fitzpatrick’s other allegations were determined to be “NOT SUSTAINED due to lack of evidence.”
The lawsuit contains three counts alleging a hostile work environment based on sex and perceived sexual orientation, retaliation, and aiding and abetting by the individual defendants. Fitzpatrick alleges the conduct violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Fitzpatrick is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and other relief and has demanded a jury trial.
The allegations are contained in a civil complaint and have not been proven in court.
RNJ has reached out to the Town of Phillipsburg for comment and will update this story if a response is received.
