Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey contracted security firm facing sexual misconduct claims

The Port Authority inked a two-year, $154 million contract with a security company — and then the firm was sued over sexual-misconduct allegations involving bosses at JFK Airport, The Post has learned.

And since the suit was filed, three more plaintiffs have joined the case with sordid claims of their own.

The PA’s deal with Allied Universal Security Services — which supplies guards for JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Teterboro airports — went into effect last Sept. 1, records show.

On Oct. 20, the company was slapped with a federal civil-rights suit by a former employee who claims she was fired for complaining that her bosses were pressuring her for sex.

LaDonna Powell also accused Allied bosses of wasting taxpayer money by goofing off at work, where they spent hours watching closed-circuit video of subordinates having sex in security booths — and she said they forced her to watch as well.

In December, Powell’s suit was amended to add ex-Allied workers including Marsha-Nique Irving, who says she was put on a list of women whom supervisors had targeted for sex.

Another, Sheila Walton, says she was subjected to crude sexual comments, including how “you gotta make sure you know how to suck a d–k.”

The third, Roy Fields, claims he was demoted when his boss learned he was “in a romantic relationship with a female security guard with whom the supervisor was also having sex.”

Plaintiffs’ lawyer Elizabeth Saylor told The Post that Allied workers may have used their smartphones to capture surveillance video of some JFK sexcapades, and she’s hoping to obtain the recordings before the case goes to trial in Brooklyn federal court.

“I’m shocked that they haven’t put on leave or suspended any of the supervisors involved,” she said.

The PA’s deal with Allied extended a four-year, $221 million pact signed in 2013 for about 600 guards at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.

In 2014, Allied got an additional $60 million to provide guards at the World Trade Center site.

The PA said the contract includes a provision that gives it the right to back out “at any time.”

“The Inspector General’s Office is carefully reviewing the allegations against the company and will take aggressive measures against the firm should the allegations be determined to be true, including exercising our right to terminate this contract,” the statement said.

Allied has denied all the claims in the suit, which is pending in Brooklyn federal court.

Original article can be found here ➤ https://nypost.com

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