PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – In the latest development in a saga of political turmoil in the south Broward town of about 6,000 people, Pembroke Park’s one-time top lawyer is the latest former official to file suit over allegations of harassment by a controversial commissioner.
Former Town Attorney Melissa Anderson filed the lawsuit in Broward County court Friday. She’s seeking “in excess of $50,000″ in damages from the town.
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Anderson, who is openly gay, claims harassment and discrimination based on her gender and sexual orientation, which she said led to her termination from the town in December 2022.
She names Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs, who has also served as the town’s mayor, as the culprit.
The suit states that Jacobs “engaged in a campaign of discrimination and harassment” against Anderson and claims the town failed to take action.
“For instance, Jacobs would refer to Plaintiff as a ‘f---ing c---,’ ‘the c---,’ ‘the Pitbull,’ and ‘nasty.’ Jacobs would direct the Plaintiff to ‘shut up,’ to ‘stay the f--- away from (him),’ and to ‘f-- off,’” the suit claims.
Anderson also claims Jacobs would ask “friends” who work for the town “to file false and unsubstantiated complaints of alleged harassment against (her).”
Pembroke Park officials “investigated those baseless and harassing complaints despite having failed to investigate (Anderson)’s legitimate complaints against Jacobs of discrimination and harassment,” the suit alleges.
Anderson’s suit also references a point of controversy in 2022, when she claimed Jacobs sent her a “homophobic,” “misogynistic” and “threatening” TikTok video, causing her to say she feared for her safety.
“The video featured a ‘masculine’ lesbian asking a night club owner what angers him about masculine women, who in turn responds that masculine women think they are ‘hot s---’ until they find out that he can ‘beat the crap out of them,’” the lawsuit states.
The suit states that after Jacobs sent the video to Anderson, he forwarded it in an email to the town manager in which he wrote, “this is your town attorney. She has seen it.”
“Despite this e-mail, Jacobs later falsely claimed he had sent the video ‘accidentally,’ and (the town) did nothing about it,” the suit states.
Anderson said she then notified Pembroke Park’s then-human resources director — who’s also suing the town — and contacted police.
The suit states that after Anderson filed the complaint, Jacobs “falsely” claimed that she “had been harassing him and other men” in the town.
“Jacobs also claimed he was not homophobic because he worked with ‘a great deal of gay flight attendants,’” the suit alleges, going on to say that he claimed on one occasion that Anderson was “weaponizing” her gender.
The suit claims that after Anderson’s December 2022 termination, the town “finally hired an outside investigator to investigate the claims (she) and others had made against Jacobs, who ultimately found that Jacobs’s behavior was likely harassing and created a hostile work environment.”
Anderson is suing under the Florida Civil Rights Act. She’s since moved on to work for the city of West Palm Beach, where she serves as its LGBTQ+ liaison.
Aside from the aforementioned former HR Director Babette Friedman, Jacobs himself has said he plans to sue the town, claiming he’s the victim of “false arrest, defamation and slander, false imprisonment” and violations against his constitutional rights.
Jacobs’ announcement, which didn’t contain details about specific allegations, came after he was criminally charged for making a police call claiming Mayor Ashira Mohammed, one of his rivals on the dais, brought a gun to the town commission chambers. After a public search, police found no weapon.
Local 10 News has contacted a town spokesperson and Jacobs’ attorney seeking comment on the latest litigation.
Read the lawsuit (contains graphic language):