Middlesex sheriff sex-lawsuit settlements top $2.77M after latest case

Middlesex County has agreed to settle a salacious sexual harassment lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office for $250,000, bringing the total that the office recently has paid to settle similar cases to close to $3 million.

The county last month signed an agreement with Investigator Nelli Arcaro to drop the lawsuit in order to avoid "the cost and expense of any further litigation."

Neither the county nor the Sheriff's Office admitted any wrongdoing, according to a copy of the document obtained this week by MyCentralJersey.com under the state's Open Public Records Act.

Arcaro becomes the ninth woman in the last five years to receive a settlement after suing the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office.

Other legal troubles, meanwhile, continue for Sheriff Mildred "Millie" Scott, who is being sued by employees she fired over allegations of misconduct.

Arcaro, a Monroe resident who was hired in 1994, claimed in her 2012 lawsuit that she was sexually harassed more than 50 times by a supervisor "almost every time he saw her between 2007 and 2012."

Arcaro alleged that Capt. Kevin Chaney repeatedly propositioned her for oral sex and touched her inappropriately. When she complained to Director Tom Farrell, he allegedly laughed it off.

In December, MyCentralJersey.com reported that the Sheriff's Office punished Farrell and another supervisor but never disciplined Chaney as a result of Arcaro's complaints.

Scott argued in court papers that Arcaro did not report the alleged harassment until 2012 and that Arcaro was reluctant to report the harassment because she had had affairs with Farrell and Lt. Eric DeProssimo.

The case had gone to trial before both sides agreed to the settlement.

Other settlements:

• The county paid $1.59 million in 2010 to settle two former female sheriff's officers' lawsuit alleging years of sexual propositions and lewd behavior by male co-workers under former Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo.

• The county paid $850,000 in 2010 to settle a 2004 sexual harassment lawsuit by five other female officers against Spicuzzo's office.

• The county paid $75,000 in 2011 to a black female Sheriff's Office clerk who in 2001 alleged racial and verbal harassment by a co-worker.

Neither Arcaro's attorney, Paul Castronovo, of Castronovo & McKinney in Morristown, nor a Middlesex County spokesman could be reached for comment Wednesday.

For the latest watchdog coverage of Middlesex County communities, follow reporter Sergio Bichao on Facebook.

Staff Writer Sergio Bichao: 908-243-6615; sbichao@mycentraljersey.com