The following is a reprint from "THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER"
Sheriff and Assembly candidate is object of harassment suit

BY BARBARA BOYER
Inquirer Staff Writer

Burlington County's sheriff, who is running for an Assembly seat, was named yesterday in a federal lawsuit that accuses him of sexually harassing an investigator and unfairly firing the woman and her husband after she filed a complaint.

Elizabeth Ortiz Stefanoni and her husband, Zachary Stefanoni, also a former sheriff's investigator, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden, accusing Sheriff Gary L. Daniels of improperly touching her almost two years ago. The couple later lost their jobs.

Daniels, reached yesterday at his office, called the lawsuit a "sham."

"They claim harassment, but I'm the one being harassed. I'm the victim here," said Daniels, a Republican running for a Seventh District seat.

The accusations, he added, were investigated by the state Attorney General's Office, which finished its review in 1998 and found no basis for them.

The couple, who live in Browns Mills, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Their attorney, George D. Walker Jr., declined to elaborate on the accusations in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that on Sept. 2, 1997, Elizabeth Stefanoni was called for jury duty and the sheriff, after seeing her in the building, helped her devise an excuse to get released from the jury pool.

Afterward, the lawsuit alleges, Daniels inappropriately touched Stefanoni on the breast and told her: "Don't forget you owe me."

When Stefanoni began avoiding contact with the sheriff, the lawsuit said, Under sherriff Jean Stanfield threatened to reassign her. On Nov. 17, 1997, the sheriff sought out Stefanoni and apologized for the threat of a potential move, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit says that during their talk, Daniels told Stefanoni: "You are one of the best workers, and all that you are going through, it is no wonder that you haven't lost your mind. I want you to come back to your old position."

When Stefanoni extended her had, the lawsuit alleges, Daniels embraced her and touched her on the buttocks inappropriately.

According to the suit, Stefanoni "became emotionally hysterical" and took a medical leave from Nov. 17, 1997, until Feb. 17, 1998, when Daniels allegedly attempted to get Zachary Stefanoni to persuade his wife to return to work.

The next day, she returned to work and complained to her supervisor. She was then assigned to a new position in the courthouse, the lawsuit alleges.

Her complaint was forwarded to the Attorney General's Office.

Burlington County officials investigated the couple's employment, and they were fired in July 1998 for alleged discrepancies in their work schedules and misusing cellular telephones.

County Solicitor Evan H.C. Crook said yesterday that Elizabeth Stefanoni already had been under investigation for improper conduct when she made the sexual harassment allegations. Crook said the county initiated the outside review by the Attorney General's Office that cleared the sheriff.

"After a lengthy and detailed investigation, weighing the testimony of all parties, all witnesses, and all other evidence, we have found the allegations by sheriff's investigation of Ortiz to be lacking in credibility and unsubstantiated," Assistant Attorney General Debra Stone said in a letter dated May 19, 1998.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders have also investigated the allegations and found no basis to take action, Crook said. Daniels he said, will be defended "to the fullest."

Daniels said that he is confident he will be vindicated and that the lawsuit will not affect the election. He is running with Republican Clara Ruvolo in an effort to unseat Democrats Herb Conaway and Conners in November.