18-04-2025
Male cop told female officer to take testosterone to ‘better perform,' NJ suit says
A New Jersey police officer was told by a male colleague that her 'screeching' gave him a headache and ''she should take testosterone' to lower her voice and better perform,' a new lawsuit says.
Maryan Beskaly's productivity in writing tickets also was attributed to her 'PMSing,' and she 'was accused of 'taking her anger and emotions out on the motoring public,'' according to the lawsuit, filed April 10 in state Superior Court.
Meanwhile, a male officer with similar productivity was praised as 'proactive,' the lawsuit said.
Those comments were part of 'a culture of toxic masculinity' within the Saddle River Police Department, according to the lawsuit, which says Beskaly was discriminated against, retaliated against and ultimately wrongfully fired in 2023 because of her gender, her national origin and an injury she got on the job.
The complaint names the police department and the Borough of Saddle River as defendants.
McClatchy News reached out to the Saddle River police chief and mayor April 18 and was awaiting responses.
Gina Mendola Longarzo, the attorney representing Beskaly, said in an April 18 email that there's 'a very disturbing pattern of gender discrimination and sexism at the' police department, and 'we plan on exposing it in full.'
When Beskaly was hired in 2022, she was the second female officer in the department, the lawsuit said. The Egypt-born Beskaly also was 'the only officer of Middle Eastern/North African descent.
Not long after coming on board, she got pushback after she refused 'to engage in racial profiling' by interrogating a Black man about a car wreck when there'd been no description of the fleeing suspects, the lawsuit said.
She also was told to avoid the department's other female officer, according to the lawsuit, which says 'the chief clearly worries that the gender discrimination will be further challenged and exposed if the female employees work together and (realize) there is strength in numbers.'
The other female officer filed her own lawsuit, according to court records.
During Beskaly's time with the department, she developed a back injury after being required to wear a taser on a utility belt that was already heavy, the lawsuit said. The belts 'were seemingly designed for men, not women, and therefore the additional weight more negatively impacted the women,' the lawsuit said.
Both female officers asked to use vest carriers, but instead they were ''taught' how to wear and adjust their holster belts while being manhandled and grabbed while the male officers 'mansplained' to them,' the lawsuit said.
It also said some essential equipment, like camera chargers, was kept in the men's locker room.
Beskaly was exceptionally qualified when she was hired, and for a time she led the patrol division in giving tickets, the lawsuit said. She'd gotten no 'prior negative feedback or progressive discipline' before being fired, the lawsuit said.
She's seeking damages, back pay and to be reinstated, according to the lawsuit.
Saddle River is about a 26-mile drive north from Newark.
