NEW JERSEY
Daily Record
Peggy Wright , @PeggyWrightDR November 24, 2016
A former secretary for Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hackettstown has sued the church and now-retired pastor, alleging he frequently made sexually-charged comments to her and used a camera in June to take pictures of her chest and under her skirt.
The woman, a Flanders resident whose identity the Daily Record has elected to withhold, sued the church and former Pastor Terrance Herzberg, 67, who accelerated his planned retirement by departing shortly after his administrative assistant claimed that he violated her privacy on June 27.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney John F. McDonnell, was made public Wednesday in Superior Court, Morristown. It charges that the church violated the state’s Law Against Discrimination and that Herzberg’s conduct interfered with her job performance and “created an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.” The complaint said that Herzberg’s behavior constituted a “constructive discharge” of the woman’s employment with the church because she could not work in that environment.
Interim church Pastor Rev. Richard Izzard said that Wednesday that he, the church and congregants are aware of the allegations and that Herzberg retired over the summer, sooner than he had planned.
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