Metro

NJ official sues state, Murphy campaign and top aide for alleged rape

The New Jersey official at the center of the Gov. Phil Murphy rape scandal has filed a lawsuit against the state, the Murphy campaign and the former top aide who allegedly assaulted her — claiming they bungled their response and tried to keep her silent.

“She pursued every avenue she could…waved every red flag she could access, and she was ignored,” explained Kathryn McClure, attorney for Katie Brennan, who serves as chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

“As Ms. Brennan has said, if she cannot get justice through currently available complaint systems, who can?” McClure asked in a statement to NJ.com. “It should never have come to this, but every opportunity to take meaningful action was met with disregard.”





Brennan, 31, claims that she was sexually assaulted by Albert Alvarez — New Jersey’s ex-Schools Development Authority chief of staff and a former Murphy campaign senior official — in April 2017. She says the alleged attack happened inside her home after Alvarez asked to use the bathroom.

In her suit, Brennan says the Murphy administration not only ignored her accusation but also violated her rights by launching an Equal Employment probe — which required her to sign a confidentiality agreement — after she publicly testified on the alleged rape.

“The EEO/AA launched this investigation — on their own accord — in order to apply its illegal ‘strict confidentiality directive’ to [Brennan], to attempt to silence her once again,” the suit states. “If she breaches this confidentiality, the penalties include discipline, up to and including termination.”





Brennan is seeking damages and emergency relief for the “emotional distress, economic loss and other damages” she has suffered as a result of the alleged assault. She says she hopes that her lawsuit leads to other survivors’ voices being heard.

“[Brennan] and other state employees are and will continue to suffer irreparable harm if defendants are not immediately restrained from enforcing the strict confidentiality directive,” the suit says.





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