A woman who worked with former Red Bank police Chief Larry Sneed regrets dropping her complaint against him and says he created a "hostile working environment" for city employees.
"I should have gone forward," said Carolyn Lewis, former Red Bank finance director. "I might have stopped all this heartache."
Her story comes about three weeks after City Manager Chris Dorsey dismissed Mr. Sneed under mysterious circumstances. The city has acknowledged a "significant amount of turmoil" within the Red Bank Police Department under Mr. Sneed's leadership, but nothing more.
Red Bank residents have defended Mr. Sneed with petitions asking for his reinstatement, but several ex-officers criticized him earlier this week, one calling his leadership style that of "an absolute monster."
Mrs. Lewis said problems also happened at the administrative level, where she and the chief served as department heads. She said Mr. Sneed always bypassed her on financial matters related to the police department, often facing city managers who asked him to obey the chain of command.
"The man stood and hit his head against the wall because he had to let me sign something," Mrs. Lewis said.
Mr. Sneed's personnel file shows a 2007 complaint written by Mrs. Lewis, who said the chief "turned almost purple, shook a finger toward me and went out of control" after he took a joke about the police department the wrong way. Only when Mr. Dorsey promised to look into the incident did she agree to return to work, Mrs. Lewis said.
Mrs. Lewis said that, sometime after an internal investigation began, she remembered Mr. Sneed walking into the city manager's office, saying he heard that her complaint had leaked to the media.
Mrs. Lewis, who worked for Red Bank for 21 years before retirement, said she didn't want any negative publicity for the city, especially after April Eidson, former public works director, filed a 2004 gender-based harassment suit against then-Commissioner and current Mayor Joe Glasscock.
"I didn't want my complaint to go to the news, I just wanted (Mr. Sneed) to straighten up," Mrs. Lewis said.
She said Mr. Dorsey asked her what could be done for her to drop the complaint, and she demanded an apology from Mr. Sneed. She said she got it.
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"After this complaint, he was so sweet to me, sugar ran out of his mouth," Mrs. Lewis said. "He was being nice to me because he had to."
Lee Davis, Mr. Sneed's attorney, said Mrs. Lewis dropped the complaint because she admitted making "a factual finance mistake." He defended his client's reaction to a "smart-aleck comment" from Mrs. Lewis.
"Larry didn't think it was funny," Mr. Davis said. "It dealt with budgetary matters in his department. Her mistake would have put Larry into a negative situation."
A city document describing Mrs. Lewis' decision to drop the complaint does not give a reason.
Mrs. Lewis and current Red Bank police Cpl. Rebecca Chauncey are the only people with documented complaints against Mr. Sneed in his seven-year tenure with Red Bank.
Red Bank personnel policies state "harassment will not be tolerated."
"That is exactly why he's been fired," Mrs. Lewis said.
Mr. Glasscock and Commissioner Ruth Jeno, two strong supporters of Mr. Sneed, declined to comment on Mrs. Lewis' remarks.
After being fired, Mr. Sneed filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against three commissioners, Mr. Dorsey and Red Bank. City officials named in the lawsuit have chosen to remain silent on the matter.
Mr. Davis has said that two dropped complaints shouldn't have derailed the chief's career.