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JFK Employee Says She Was Forced to Watch Colleagues Have Sex on Security Cameras

New York, USA - October 20, 2015: Air Traffic Control Tower and Terminal 4 with Air planes at the gates in JFK Airport in NY. 1963 the airport was rededicated John F. Kennedy International Airport.

A lawsuit against an airport security contractor claims employees were referred to by racial epithets, subject to sexual harassment and in some cases, forced to watch coworkers have sex.

According to a federal complaint filed in New York’s Southern District, some of the people who were charged with keeping air travelers safe were instead spending time and tax dollars engaged in a pattern of disturbing and illegal behavior. The lawsuit describes a work environment rife with textbook sexual harassment, racism and wildly inappropriate sexual contact between employees.

“This is not a case of a few bad apples, or a couple of discrete instances of harassment,” the lawsuit filed by former airport worker LaDonna Powell alleges. “The culture of Allied at JFK is one of discrimination and harassment. Instead of providing security services pursuant to Allied’s contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Allied supervisors wasted taxpayers’ dollars by, for example, spending their work hours circulating pornographic videos and propositioning female employees for sex.”

In the complaint, Powell describes being ordered to watch security footage of fellow employees engaging in sexual relations. Powell says she was told flat-out, “There are things you can do to get where you want to go,” by a supervisor during a meeting attended by a Port Authority supervisor. Court filings describe the uncomfortable overture, noting “the clear implication to Ms. Powell was that she could engage in sex acts to advance her career.”

In one instance, Powell claims that a supervisor told her, “Since everyone already thinks we had sex, let’s bend you over the table.” The complaint further alleges that black employees were regularly referred to using an offensive racial epithet. According to the court filings, Powell was repeatedly reprimanded for not recruiting sexually attractive candidates. Powell’s suit claims that she and other female employees were under constant pressure to engage in sexual relations with colleagues during work hours.

The complaint accuses immediate supervisors of engaging in systematic hazing after Powell complained about the hostile work environment. She alleges the harassment culminated with her being fired from the company in 2016 in retaliation for blowing the whistle on her bosses. The former airport worker says that she complained, both to Allied executives and Port Authority officials, countless times to no avail.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesperson Steve Coleman refused to comment on the pending lawsuit. Coleman told the Daily News that the Port Authority Inspector General’s Office would handle the investigation into the shocking accusations. Meanwhile, a representative of Allied Universal would only tell the newspaper that “per policy we do not comment publicly on pending litigation.”

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