DENVILLE — Denville Township has agreed to pay a $650,000 settlement to a former female police officer who filed a lawsuit claiming she was harassed, ridiculed and discriminated against because of her gender.

Victoria Benson, the only woman ever hired as a police officer in Denville, claimed that male officers frequently made comments about her weight and appearance, and that one called her a “lesbian.”

One officer refused to respond to her calls for assistance, while another assaulted her, according to the suit filed in 2010 against the township and 11 officers.

In the settlement, the township continued to deny any wrongdoing and Benson released it from liability, dropping her claims of discrimination.

The settlement represents a “compromise of disputed claims,” according to the agreement signed by Benson’s attorney, Adam Kleinfeldt, and Denville’s business administrator, Steven Ward.

The township agreed that if contacted by a potential employer, it would provide only Benson’s dates of employment and position held, and no other information.

Benson, now 41 and living in Dover, served as a Denville police officer from 2000 to 2010. Her lawsuit listed a series of incidents that she says began virtually as soon as she started the job.

Benson said her superior officer told her “he did not approve of women employed as law enforcement officers and hoped Denville would never hire another woman police officer.”

That officer “encouraged and participated in public ridicule,” including taking part in “a harassing and degrading game of guess Benson’s clothing size,” according to the suit.

Benson said the department did not investigate her claims of discrimination and said a supervisor refused to let her wear a recording device so he could be made aware of the continuing harassment.

The department pursued “baseless” disciplinary charges against her and ultimately, she resigned because of the “hostile work environment,” she said.

Denville Police Chief Christopher Wagner said he had “no comment” on the settlement. Ward, the business administrator, declined to comment. Attorney Natalia Engeli, who represented the township, was unavailable.

Benson’s attorney, Kleinfeldt, said she settled for $650,000 “not because that number reflects the damage she has suffered, but because she is compromising to obtain certainty and closure. She was courageous in filing the lawsuit and, in effect, taking on an entire police department.”

“I know Vicky is ready to close this chapter in her life and start a new one,” Kleinfeldt added.

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