Making leering comments about their bodies. Assigning them vulgar nicknames. Exposing them to graphic pornographic images. Relentlessly propositioning them for sex.
And groping, sexual assault and rape.
These are among the worst of the allegations included in an eye-catching lawsuit filed last week against the Town of Tonawanda Police Department and a one-time supervisor in the department's 9-1-1 center, Brett A. Rider. He was fired last year and awaits trial on numerous felony sex crimes but "adamantly denies" the criminal charges, according to his attorney.
Two former public safety dispatchers contend in their complaint they were subjected to relentless sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of Rider. They claim much of the misconduct happened in front of co-workers, who did nothing to stop it, and their complaints to supervisors went unanswered.
Rider, because of his leadership position within the union representing town dispatchers and because so many of his family members held positions of influence within town government, was free to carry out a "reign of terror" for nearly two decades, the women argue.
"Brett Rider is a monster," Jennifer Murphy, who filed the suit with Valerie Hickok, said in an interview. "And he was created by the Town of Tonawanda Police Department."
The lawsuit comes as allegations of sexual harassment continue to dominate the news, including the investigation that detailed claims of misconduct against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the rampant misbehavior outlined in a lawsuit against the video game giant Activision Blizzard.
The former Town of Tonawanda dispatchers say Rider's vile treatment didn't end until last summer, when he was placed on leave, terminated and charged with predatory sexual assault, rape and other offenses that could keep him in prison for the rest of his life. The charges presented by the Erie County District Attorney's Office match many of the claims made in the civil lawsuit.
Police officials did not respond to requests for comment. Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger said he could not comment because the town hasn't yet been served with the document. Rider's defense attorney, Jessica Kulpit, said she could not address the claims in the lawsuit.
The complaint speaks for itself, said attorney Lindy Korn, who with Catherine McCulle is representing Murphy and Hickok: "This is a classic hostile work environment."
Woman: Connections provided protection
The Town of Tonawanda's 911 center, located at the town's police and court complex at 1835 Sheridan Drive, is overseen by the Police Department.
Hickok was hired as a dispatcher in 1990 and said it didn't take long for what she describes as the "repeated harassment" to begin.
She claims in her suit that Brett Rider; his father, Randall, a senior member of the dispatch center who is now retired; and others engaged in the widespread misconduct.
Hickok contends she complained as early as 1994 to supervisors to no avail about the mistreatment, which made it harder and harder to do her job.
The younger Rider, and on occasion the elder Rider, called her and other dispatchers "vulgar, degrading names," including "slut," punctuated with a curse word; made objectifying and demeaning comments, such as discussing how her body looks in her uniform; forced her to listen to a conversation about a sex toy; and employed slurs based on race or sexual orientation, the lawsuit alleges.
"Every single employee and supervisor knew of defendant Rider's behavior, witnessed it and did nothing to stop it," the suit claims.
Hickok said, because she feared retaliation, she never filled out a formal complaint against the Riders. After speaking in 2007 to a town police captain, she said, a colleague a day or two later told Hickok as they sat alone in the lunch room: "Snitches get stitches."
Nothing was ever done, Hickok said, because of who Brett Rider is.
He was, at various times, an acting dispatch supervisor, head of the union representing dispatchers and other town salaried workers, a union representative for dispatch workers, an arson investigator, and a fourth-generation volunteer firefighter and member of a family involved in Tonawanda politics and government for decades.
At one time, Murphy said, Rider, his girlfriend, his father and his stepmother all worked in the dispatch center.
'Fear keeps people silent'
Murphy, who said she wanted a job that allowed her to serve her community, joined the town's 911 center on a part-time basis in 2008 before a promotion to full-time status in 2009.
She recalled that Brett Rider, after meeting her, said the town should have hired his girlfriend for the position instead of Murphy. The girlfriend was hired the following year and later became a supervisor in the center.
"It was so brutal right from the start," she said. How often was she harassed? "It was so constant, I describe it as trying to count the number of breaths you take in a day," Murphy said.
He continuously referred to her breasts and other parts of her body, crudely harangued her for oral sex and intercourse, shared hardcore pornographic images and tried to get her to look at or touch his penis, the lawsuit claims. And he regularly speculated on the sex lives and personal grooming habits of co-workers and their partners in graphic terms, she said.
On the rare times he was called out on it, Murphy said, Rider would claim he was just kidding around. The lack of any consequences, Murphy said, "emboldened" Rider to act worse.
Brett Rider also turned his sexual commentary toward Murphy's teenage daughter and, in more disturbingly vivid terms, toward her mother, Murphy alleges. She said she put up with so much of it because she was afraid of Rider and his position of authority.
"In these types of cases," Korn said, "the fear by the harasser, it's a learned tool. Because fear keeps people silent."
Murphy said the conduct escalated from harassment to sexual assault beginning in March 2009, when Brett Rider took her on a ride-along to Sheridan Park Fire Hall. Rider, who had a key, took her into the empty hall, where he grabbed at her breasts and butt, the lawsuit alleges. When she complained, she said, Rider told her not to worry, saying, "You're a big girl."
Further, the lawsuit contends, Rider went on to rape or attempt to rape her several times between 2009 and 2018, including once when he wasn't able to complete the act.
And he followed her around, keeping tabs on her and the people she spent time with, when she was off duty.
"It was absolutely terrible. I had nightmares," Murphy said. "I had to look over my shoulder."
Brett Rider, according to the suit, also used racial slurs and made degrading jokes about people with disabilities and those who are heavyset.
The lawsuit includes the names of numerous supervisors, including various police captains and Police Chief James P. Stauffiger, then an assistant chief, who heard Murphy's complaints but did not act on them. Murphy told The Buffalo News she has retained copies of some of her emailed complaints.
"This old boys' club opens the door to a lot of harassment," Murphy said.
Union reconsiders grievance
Legal representatives for the Police Department and Brett Rider have not yet responded to the suit, which was filed Wednesday in State Supreme Court. Stauffiger did not respond to an email Saturday and Randall Rider couldn't immediately be reached to comment.
Murphy said she doesn't know why it took so long for the complaints made against Brett Rider to break through. Emminger, the town supervisor, told The Buffalo News last year the Town Board acted promptly to discipline Rider as soon as it was made aware of his purported misconduct.
The Town Board in August 2020 suspended Rider and terminated him the following month. His union has filed a grievance on his behalf, objecting to Rider's firing, but the attorney for the Salaried Employees Association, Paul D. Weiss, said union officials are reconsidering whether to continue this effort on Rider's behalf.
Weiss said the union didn't previously know about the allegations against Rider. He acknowledged Brett Rider's prior union leadership position would make it difficult for the union to advocate on behalf of members who say they were victims of his mistreatment.
"This has raised concerns about what is best for all our union members," Weiss said.
Brett Rider was indicted last fall and arraigned in November on numerous charges of predatory sexual assault, rape, criminal sexual act, sexual abuse and stalking, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney John J. Flynn said at the time the charges involve three victims, all fellow dispatchers, and Rider is accused of a pattern of "inappropriate, sexually harassing behavior while on-duty as an acting dispatch supervisor." One victim was forced into sex at police headquarters, Flynn said.
Rider remains held without bail at the Erie County Holding Center. Kulpit said she is investigating all of the criminal claims against Rider as she prepares her defense.
Murphy said she testified before the grand jury and she looks forward to doing so again at Rider's trial, which is set to begin in March.
Both Hickok and Murphy say they were forced from jobs they love because of the unrelenting harassment and the lack of support from their supervisors. Hickok left in March 2017, five years before she could retire with her full pension.
Murphy said she was subject to retaliation from those who stood by Rider even after his arrest. Her complaints to police officials and a human resources administrator, she said, were ignored.
She said she didn't feel safe at work, suffered at least one panic attack and ended up leaving her job in March.
Further, Murphy said, the District Attorney's Office called her in June to tell her that Rider was discovered talking to someone about having her murdered. A spokesman for the office declined to comment.
Hickok and Murphy describe suffering from anxiety, insomnia and other trauma in the aftermath of their encounters with Rider.
The lawsuit, Murphy said, is an attempt to make sure women working in the dispatch center don't have to go through what they endured.
"I'm not scared anymore. I'm done," Murphy said. "I mean, this is 2021. Women are finally getting their chance to speak up. I tried to speak up before and I wasn't heard. And I'm going to speak up now and I'm going to speak up every day until these people are held accountable."
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