An MTA dispatcher claims her boss made so many “snide” remarks when she tried to use the restroom, she was afraid to go — and ended up with kidney stones, according to a $2 million lawsuit.
Catherine Gonzalez, 53, says the alleged harassment from co-worker Mervin Reovan — including spitting on her at the height of the pandemic — began when she got promoted from bus driver to dispatcher.
The veteran employee was the only female dispatcher at her workplace and claims she was “mistreated right from the get go,” she told The Post.
Gonzalez was “singled out” for being a Puerto Rican lesbian, she charges in her papers filed against the MTA and Reovan in Manhattan Federal Court.
“He didn’t like the fact that I’m a lesbian… he just couldn’t handle that. I walk like a guy, I have certain masculine mannerisms,” Gonzalez said. “I couldn’t do anything to win him over.”
Other dispatchers got their own keys to the bathroom, but Gonzalez said she had to stop near Reovan’s desk to retrieve one every time she needed to relieve herself.
The alleged harassment — which also allegedly included a supervisor who allegedly told her she would “wind up going back to driving the bus” if she took time off — left her so distraught she said she developed kidney stones, according to court papers.
She then put off needed surgery until her year-long probationary period ended, leaving her in “excruciating pain.”
“I was so afraid that I said ‘You know what, I’m gonna hold myself,’” Gonzalez said. “So I end up holding myself and all of the sudden, one day, I wind up falling over [in pain] at home.”
Gonzalez transferred from the Bronx to Manhattan to avoid Reovan. But the MTA moved him to the same location — where he became her supervisor, she says in the court papers.
That’s when the harassment got even worse, she claims.
Reovan would often grow angry, even spitting on her at the height of the pandemic, said Gonzalez. He gave her a slew of disciplinary infractions for small errors, attempted to force her to work double and triple shifts, and ordered 35 total days of unpaid suspension, she charges in the legal filing.
“He was trying to make my life a living hell,” Gonzalez said.
John Hague, Gonzalez’s attorney, told The Post he hopes “her case brings about positive change in the MTA, as everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity at work.”
An MTA spokesperson declined to comment. Reovan did not respond to requests for comment.
