By Naeisha Rose
LaDonna Powell, a former supervisor and regional trainer of security guards at John F. Kennedy International Airport, is suing her employers at the security firm that was contracted by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for allegedly firing her unlawfully after she refused to participate in her supervisors’ sex fests.
Powell, 32, was employed at the airport in 2012 at a security firm, FJC Security Inc., but when that company’s contract with the Port Authority was taken over by Allied Barton Security Services, working at JFK became a nightmare, according to the former supervisor. She worked for Allied Barton from 2013 to 2016.
The regional trainer is suing Allied Barton on the grounds that she was sexually harassed, ignored when she reported racism and treated to poor working conditions when she refused to engage in sexual activities with her superiors, according to her lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan. She contends she was fired when she told a Port Authority worker about the harassment, the suit says.
The other Allied defendants listed in the suit include its Regional Vice President Martin Feeney, project manager Thomas Tarantola and assistant project manager Christopher Timberlake. She is also suing security supervisors Osvaldo Ortiz, Keith Reed, Alberto Diaz, and Kevin McNamara.
Powell’s job was to supervise security officers in the field and to communicate with Port Authority officials about security issues. Instead she was forced to watch sexually explicit videos allegedly with Ortiz, Reed and Diaz in the office as they made commentary about how their “toes curl” as they watched female employees perform oral sex on other male supervisors, according to the suit.
When Powell, a Jamaican-American, stood up to McNamara by reporting him to other supervisors for calling the black and immigrant officers who she supervisedthe N-word, he lashed out at her and said: “I’m tired of seeing your [N-word] faces,” according to the suit.
Feeney’s alleged response to the complaint was “Next time he does it, kick him in the balls,” according to Powell.
Once Tarantola met Powell in person and realized she was a Jamaican woman, he allegedly questioned her loyalty to the white supervisors and tried to prevent her from getting ahead at work, the suit says.
In her suit Powell contends she was denied bathroom and lunch breaks, did not get overtime pay, and did not get salaried pay like the white male supervisors who worked at Allied.
Timberlake allegedly would brush up against Powell and make crude remarks about her body, according to the suit.
“Your breasts got smaller,” Timberlake allegedly said to Powell after she lost weight.
When Powell reported the rape of a female employee after a work party to Diaz, Ortiz and Reed, they allegedly ignored her report of the assault, according to the suit.
The toxic environment became so unbearable for Powell that when a Port Authority worker found her crying, she told the official everything that was going on.
After her discussion with the Port Authority official, Tarantola allegedly spearheaded her termination, which occurred in May 2016, according to Powell.
Allied Universal refused to comment on the suit.
“Per policy we do not comment publicly on pending litigation,” a spokeswoman said.
Port Authority’s Inspector General’s Office is reviewing the allegations made in the lawsuit.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
