The following is a reprint from "THE COURIER-POST"
Suit charges Burlco's sheriff with harassment

BY CAROL COMEGNO
Mount Holly

A married couple fired by Burlington County Sheriff Gary Daniels are suing him in federal court for alleged sexual harassment and civil rights violations.

Elizabeth Ortiz Stefanoni of Pemberton Township, a former sheriff's investigator, claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Camden that Daniels improperly touched her on two occasions in 1997.

Allegations that he brushed his hand across her breasts and buttocks previously were investigated by the state attorney general's office and by the federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in 1998.

Both of those investigations found the charges against Daniels unsubstantiated, said Burlington County Solicitor Evan Crook.

Daniels, who is also a lawyer, has denied the charges.

"This is the latest in a series of attempts for them to retaliate against me for taking action against them," Daniels said.

"Anyone who knows me knows this is garbage. I will be vindicated."

George D. Walker, the Stefanonis' lawyer, could not be reached for comment.

Daniels has passed a polygraph test, indicating that he was being truthful, Crook said Tuesday.

"It is our intention to defend this federal lawsuit completely. We have every reason to believe he will be vindicated," Crook said.

The sheriff fired Elizabeth Stefanoni and her husband Zachary, from $26,000-a-year jobs last July after a county audit found them guilty of administrative charges that included misconduct and violation of departmental policies.

The two joined the department as investigators in 1995.

In the couple's lawsuit they allege the firings were retaliation for Elizabeth Stefanoni's prior harassment complaint.