The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that two male supervisors at the New York City Parks and Recreation Department are being investigated for inappropriate behavior toward female workers.
The two women who brought forward the allegations — one seasonal and one full-time employee — and the supervisors have been transferred out of the department while an investigation is carried out, according to a spokesman.
The supervisors are suspected of sending harassing text messages and hosting parties on city property. At these parties, female seasonal workers — "some of whom came into the job through the welfare system and are desperate to keep [their] seasonal positions," according to the Daily News — would receive money along with promotions or other work-related rewards for dancing on a stripper's pole.
"[For] the New Year's party, it got really grabby," one woman told the Daily News. "Some women stripped to their panties and bras, and men were slapping asses. It was out of control." (Which explains the photo above.)
Another woman reported that a supervisor "lifted her shirt and ran his tongue across her stomach before shoving his face in her crotch" while they rode in an elevator, according to the Department of Investigation harassment complaint obtained by the Daily News.
The report also included some text messages apparently sent by one of the supervisors — James Cafaro, deputy chief of operations in the Five-Borough Technical Services division.
Like so:
