Sexual harassment, discrimination suit filed against head of NY Catholic Charities

CNA Staff, Apr 28, 2020 / 14:25 pm

A lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court accuses the head of Catholic Charities of New York of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Sixty-three-year-old former employee Alice Kenny filed the lawsuit on Sunday, New York Daily News reports.

Among other claims, the suit says Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, kept a risqué life-size cutout of Beyonce in his office, visible to all employees.

Sullivan's preference for young, attractive women was well-known and treated as a joke among Catholic Charities staff members, the lawsuit says, according to New York Daily News.

Kenny charges that she was subject to illegal discrimination because she is not a male and "does not model the physical attributes that catches Mr. Sullivan's eye." She said her desk was moved to a hallway and she was rejected for a promotion after she and other female employees complained about sexual harassment by a manager in 2016, New York Daily News reports.

Catholic Charities responded to the lawsuit in a statement, saying, "Ms. Kenny was a valued employee of Catholic Charities, an agency that is unconditionally committed to maintaining a workplace free from all discrimination, harassment, or unlawful retaliation."

"Ms. Kenny voluntarily resigned from the Marketing and Communications Office a year ago. Any allegation of discrimination is totally without merit," Catholic Charities said.