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Third Female Ed Dept Worker Accuses Management of Sexist Office Environment

By James Fanelli | December 24, 2013 10:04am
 John Shea, the CEO of the Education Department's School Facilities Division, doled out hefty pay hikes to five male cronies — but no raises to female subordinates. He's accused of sexism in lawsuit by DOE workers.
John Shea, the CEO of the Education Department's School Facilities Division, doled out hefty pay hikes to five male cronies — but no raises to female subordinates. He's accused of sexism in lawsuit by DOE workers.
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NYC.gov

CIVIC CENTER — A third female worker in the Education Department’s school facilities division plans to sue the city, claiming senior management created a sexist office environment where women earn significantly less and receive fewer promotions than their male counterparts.

Nancy Gawlowicz, a college-educated licensed architect with more than 40 years as a city worker, filed an official notice of her intention to sue with the Comptroller’s Office last month. In her filing, she accuses her bosses of repeatedly denying her promotions and giving the jobs to male cronies — all of whom have less education and fewer years of experience.

Senior management most recently passed her over for a job as executive director, according to her filing. Instead bosses picked William Estelle, a male co-worker without a college degree, Gawlowicz claims.

“Gawlowicz is more qualified for the position and has more seniority than Estelle,” the filing says.

Sheila Dancy-Wilkins and Heidi Husser, two other female employees in the school facilities division, made similar accusations of sexism in lawsuits filed last year in Manhattan Federal Court. Both claimed that John Shea, the CEO of the division, told raunchy jokes about women and created a frat house atmosphere in the office.

Like the two previous lawsuits, Gawlowicz’s filing highlights the paucity of female workers in the division and disturbing discrepancy in pay between men and women.

Gawlowicz, 66, says that men hold all of the most senior managerial positions.

For the past three years, at least 80 percent of the division’s directors were men, according to her filing. She notes that 10 of the 11 male directors earned more than their female peers.

She also notes that of the 40 deputy directors in the division, 37 are men.

Even when the division heads hired women to managerial positions, their salaries were lower, according to the filing. In 2013 two women were hired to the positions of director of sustainability and chief administrative officer.

“Both women are highly educated and paid significantly less than similarly situated male employees,” the filing says.

Gawlowicz, of the Upper East Side, currently serves as an assistant director, earning $101,644 a year.  She claims that male co-worker with less seniority and less education “earn significantly more.”

In October, DNAinfo New York reported that Shea handed out hefty raises to five of his cronies earlier this fall, but didn’t give any to female workers. The pay hikes were between 6.4 percent and 10 percent.

Earlier this month DNAinfo New York reported how Shea and other DOE brass give charter school magnate Eva Moskowitz preferential treatment when she opens a new location in a city building.

The city Law Department declined to comment about the filing.