A federal lawsuit filed by two female detectives against the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office claiming discrimination and a hostile work environment has been settled, according to a news report.

An NJ.com article said that, on March 4, the suit filed against the office in February 2022 by Detectives Lakeisha Davis and Kathryn Gannon, who claimed they were discriminated against for years because of their race or gender, was resolved.

The two said they were given menial duties and were subjected to inappropriate comments, in addition to other complaints.

The NJ.com report said details of the settlement were not disclosed in court documents. The Herald reached out to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the attorney for the plaintiffs for comment and additional information but got no immediate response.

According to the NJ.com report and/or previous reporting by the Herald, in the complaint filed in federal court Davis, who is Black, said she was referred to as a “token Black female,” and by male supervisors as a “f****** b****.

The complaint also said she was referred to by the then chief of county detectives, Paul Skill, as a “n***** b****” during an argument he had at a local bar with a Wildwood police captain. 

The complaint alleged that Lt. Steve Vivarina was overheard saying he “hates women in law enforcement.” It said an internal affairs investigation targeting Davis was initiated after Vivarino filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against her. His complaint addressed, among other things, staffing circumstances around Davis’ attending of a 2020 Black Lives Matter event in Washington, D.C.

Davis’ lawsuit said her complaints about disrespect directed at her were met with the suggestion that she “go pump gas.” She claimed she was passed over for more favorable assignments to which she applied.

Gannon alleged sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination. She said she faced threats of termination in 2006, after it was discovered that she was pregnant when she was brought on full time.

She said she didn’t know she was pregnant at the time she accepted the position, but was accused of hiding it from supervisors, who then allegedly used other excuses to threaten to terminate her.

The court documents also said Gannon claimed that in 2009, when she went with co-workers for an after-work beer, “Skill turned around to visually scope out, in a very obvious way,” her buttocks, and that Skill even admitted it.

Gannon also charged that her superiors delayed her progression through the ranks. A memorandum she wrote in 2017, she said, resulted in an internal affairs investigation into Vivarina. The lawsuit said this led to her being subjected to Vivarina’s “resentment and retaliation for her actions” related to the filing of the complaint.

Gannon also alleged she was subjected to sexual jokes made within her hearing and was repeatedly assigned menial tasks.

The pair sued for monetary damages.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.