A municipality in Gloucester County has suspended its director of public works one day after a lawsuit was filed alleging he sexually harassed a subordinate.

Charles Bosco was suspended with pay “pending an investigation,” township administrator Nancy Brett said Wednesday. The decision was taken after a one-hour, closed-door executive session during a township commissioner’s meeting Tuesday. It was a unanimous decision by all five commissioners, Brett said.

Bosco, 53, of Malaga was also charged last week with criminal sexual contact and official misconduct from the incident. He denies the allegations.

The civil lawsuit filed this week by a co-worker who he supervised said in court papers she was the only female employee in the department.

Brett said township officials have been advised to have no further comment because of pending litigation and because it is a personnel matter.

Bosco said he “would love to tell his story” when reached by phone Wednesday, but then said he had been advised by his attorney not to speak. He agreed to read a statement he had also read at the township meeting Tuesday before the decision was reached to suspend him.

“The charges against me are false and without merit,” he said. “They are in retaliation on my reporting on unlawful activity and are based upon political affiliation and are a violation of my constitutional rights.”

In addition to the sexual contact charge, Bosco is also accused of selling public works scrap at a local scrap yard, then, instead of turning the money over to the township, spending it at local restaurants and stores. Police reviewed 2018 and 2019 receipts from the scrap yard and petty cash records which revealed “multiple receipts for cash expenditures at local dining establishments and retail stores,” according to the complaint.

The woman told police that Bosco repeatedly harassed her and in one incident allegedly grabbed her by the back of the head and forced her head down to his groin, where “her face touched his penis on the outside of his clothing.”

She has sued Bosco and the township, and said Franklin officials did nothing to protect her from her supervisor’s abusive behavior.

The woman, who has worked for the township as an administrative assistant since 2015, accused Bosco and the township of violating the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination through harassment, creating a hostile work environment and retaliation.

On top of the allegations described in the police report last week, she offers additional details in her suit, describing how Bosco repeatedly tried to convince her to have sex with him.

In addition to grabbing her by the waist and rubbing his groin against her backside, grabbing her breast, and talking about his sex life, “Bosco has told (her) that if she will just have sex with him that her life at work will be easier,” according to the suit.

Among the allegations, she also claims Bosco routinely grabbed Tyciak by her ponytail and described it as “a good holding knob.”

Bosco also allegedly commented on her appearance in front of male employees and told them he wanted to have sex with her. He had a camera installed above her desk in order to watch her, the plaintiff alleges.

When the woman complained to township officials that Bosco was using the department’s female restroom, he went into the room and urinated all over it, including the walls, she claims, so that she couldn’t use it.

Attorney Arykah A. Trabosh, who is representing the woman, said she filed the suit after the township ignored two letters she had sent in an effort to resolve the issues.

The woman is still employed with the township’s public works department, but has been transferred to another building, her attorney said. Bosco’s salary is $71,875, according to state pension records.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips.

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