TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is the poster child for the Democrat party’s progressive and woke generation. Murphy is hoping to ride that image into the White House in 2025 and to set himself apart from the pack of Democrat contenders, but two lawsuits alleging sexual discrimination under his administration could derail his plans.
The first discrimination suit was filed by union workers with the AFSCME New Jersey Council 63, claiming Phil Murphy’s policies have widened the pay equity gap for women and people of color, the nearly 6,000 state employees.
The union filed a lawsuit against the Governor’s office in Superior Court, claiming racial and gender-based discrimination.
“The governor’s failure to address these issues, whether intentional or not, has created an unfair environment of bias that leaves our members, who are overwhelmingly female and people of color, behind,” Ron McMullen, an employee at Anne Klein Forensic Center and president of AFSCME New Jersey and Local 2222, said at a news conference Wednesday.
According to demographic data from the state, New Jersey’s CPOs are 82% male, with the largest group among them being white males at 43%. Meanwhile, AFSCME’s membership is 67% female and 82% minority, with black females making up the largest group at 47%.
A second lawsuit filed by Julie Roginsky paints Phil Murphy as the antagonist in a conspiracy that claims Murphy and his administration are trying to silence women and victims of sexual assault through government gag orders.
Roginksy was a key figure in Murphy’s 2016 campaign, but when Roginsky told Murphy his campaign team had a problem with sexual boundaries, she was unexpectedly fired and reminded that she had a gag order that prevented her from disclosing the information to the public.
According to Roginsky and other women that worked for Murphy, his campaign was full of sexual harassment complaints and toxic masculinity among the men working for the governor. This all culminated in a rape case brought forward by former staffer Katie Brennan.
She claims Murphy’s press office then attacked her credibility in an effort to silence her.
Now, as Murphy is seeking to become the next President of the United States, these incidents could derail him on his quest if they are brought to the mainstream media and used against him by likewise progressive candidates.