Old Bridge BOE Candidate Part Of $295K Sex Harassment Suit Settlement
OLD BRIDGE, NJ — One of the candidates for Old Bridge school board this election was named in a sexual harassment lawsuit two years ago, and was part of a $295,000 settlement reached to resolve the lawsuit.
Richard Dunn, one of six candidates running for Old Bridge school board, was sued when he was chief of the South Old Bridge Volunteer Fire Co. As Patch reported at the time, a female firefighter in that firehouse, Lisa Lent, filed the lawsuit in 2022.
In her lawsuit, Lent alleged that she frequently overheard, inside the firehouse, male firefighters talking about the women they slept with, showing pornographic videos to each other and that one firefighter in particular (South Old Bridge Volunteer Fire Co. President Tom Howard) made sexual comments at her expense.
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Lent named South Old Bridge Fire Company, Howard, Dunn and Deputy Chief Jeff Sellmeyer as defendants in her suit.
Lent said the bulk of the sexual harassment came from Howard, but she said Dunn and Sellmeyer did nothing to stop his behavior. She specifically said Dunn apologized to her for Howard’s comments. But she also said Dunn and Sellmeyer “tried to deter her” multiple times from filing formal complaints about Howard.
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Lent sought financial damages, and the South Old Bridge Volunteer Company agreed to settle with her last year for $295,000.
The $295,000 settlement was paid by the firehouse’s insurance company. As part of the settlement, none of the male firefighters admitted wrongdoing, and Lent agreed to resign from the firehouse. Dunn is still a volunteer firefighter with that firehouse.
All the parties involved signed a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement, but Patch obtained a copy of the settlement through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.
When asked about the settlement, Dunn said all this information about him coming to light is the work of the Old Bridge Republican Party.
“I’m hated by the Old Bridge Republican Party. They dislike me because I do not follow the orders of power brokers of the party,” he said Monday. “This lawsuit is all over Facebook, with people defaming me, calling me a criminal. I did not participate in any of the comments and I did not harass Ms. Lent. I was sued in my capacity as chief of the department. There is a lot of misinformation out there to character assassinate me.”
Dunn also said that he and Lent “are friends” today, and that she has one of his campaign signs on her lawn, which others have affirmed. Lent herself currently sits on the Old Bridge Board of Education.
Lent did not respond when Patch asked her to comment for this story.
Dunn previously served for 10 years on the Old Bridge school board; he was first elected in 2011. He is now trying to get back on the board. His wife is a teacher in the school district.
The final day of voting in the Old Bridge school board election is Tuesday.
Meet All 6 Old Bridge School Board Candidates
Meet Richard Dunn, Running For Old Bridge School Board
Original Patch report: Female Old Bridge Firefighter Alleges Sexist Jokes, Mistreatment (2022)
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