PALISADES PARK — A former information technology employee believes he was harassed and wrongfully terminated due to his sexual orientation and relationship with a cop who was also fired last year.

Corey Havens, who has worked in an IT position for the borough since 2017, was terminated in October for budgetary reasons, said Jeffrey Youngman, his attorney.

Havens filed legal papers that indicate he is prepared to file a lawsuit that names the borough, Councilman Henry Ruh and then-Mayor James Rotundo.

Havens has experienced depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional distress, according to the notice.

He is in a relationship with Robert DeVito, a gay officer who was fired after he also filed a tort claim against the borough over alleged homophobic slurs.

DeVito is named as a witness in the claim, along with David Lorenzo, the borough administrator.

"We will find similar things to Mr. DeVito's claims," Youngman said. "When your significant other is also terminated after allegations of slurs of sexual orientation, then the only other two openly gay employees are terminated, links can be drawn."

The council voted to let go of DeVito, who was serving as a probationary police officer, citing two pending internal affairs investigations.

In his pending litigation, DeVito alleges that Ruh made derogatory, homophobic comments about a school board trustee.

John Schettino, the borough attorney, said the town received the tort claim and it was sent to its insurance provider for further action. As of Tuesday, he had not heard any new information regarding it.

Rotundo and Ruh did not return calls for comment.

Havens claims that borough officials failed to enforce applicable standards concerning harassment and discrimination. He is also making claims of improper supervision, negligent supervision, negligent hiring, improper training, palpably unreasonable conduct, breach of duty and care, and failure to implement and enforce applicable policies and guidelines.

Youngman also believes that the termination wasn't due to finances.

"Another IT person was hired and additional people were retained," he said. "If it was for budgetary reasons, it would have been across the board."

The borough has six months to respond to the tort claim before a lawsuit is filed, Youngman said.

Email: cattafi@northjersey.com