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NYPD officer forced into rehab after reporting sexual harassment

She lost a month of pay and had to enter a 3-month outpatient program. He lost 10 vacation days.

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 17:  NYPD counter terrorism, John Miller, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD commissioner, James O'Neill 2018 New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17, 2018 in New York City.  (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 17: NYPD counter terrorism, John Miller, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD commissioner, James O'Neill 2018 New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

When Jazmia Inserillo was a rookie NYPD officer in her early 20s, she was sexually harassed by Lt. Jason Margolis.

But, according to new report by BuzzFeed News, when Inserillo reported this harassment up the chain, she lost a month of pay and was forced to go into an alcohol treatment center in order to keep her job, even though she is not an alcoholic and there are no on-the-record complaints about her drinking. She ended up quitting the department.

Margolis, meanwhile, lost 10 vacation days and was transferred to another precinct. He retired in 2016 — he characterizes is as a forced retirement due to a dispute with the department over his health. He denies all of Inserillo’s claims.

Her experiences are just another example of how hard it is for women to be believed when they allege sexual harassment at the workplace. That’s true in any profession, but especially when for a woman up against the fraternity of “boys in blue.”

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“They lied. They wanted to get paid and they did. It’s not the first time it happened and it won’t be the last,” Margolis told BuzzFeed News when he was contacted. He claimed that Inserillo ruined his career with her complaint.

Inserillo says that starting in about 2006, Margolis joined her precinct and the harassment began. He touched her inappropriately, made sexual comments, gave her massages, took her to his house alone, and once told her, “All you have to do is play the game and I will help you with whatever you want.”

She complained first to officers at her precinct and her union delegate, but nothing was done.

According to Inserillo, after she made an official complaint to the NYPD’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity in October 2011, she received word from other women in the department that Margolis sexually harassed them, as well.

But she also felt alienated and bullied by her colleagues who were upset that filed a complaint. One day, due to the extreme pressure, she had to go to the hospital because she had trouble breathing.

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After that, she was ordered to see a psychologist by the department. That psychologist recommended that she receive treatment for alcohol abuse, and she was ordered to either attend three months of outpatient treatment or receive a 30-day suspension without pay.

Inserillo was adamant that she did not have an alcohol problem, and ended up taking the suspension.

“Two officers who worked with Inserillo at the precinct told BuzzFeed News they had never seen or heard of any issues with Inserillo drinking, and three others who later testified at her disciplinary trial said the same thing,” BuzzFeed News reported. “Even Margolis, the lieutenant she complained about, told BuzzFeed News that he never noticed any problems with her use of alcohol.”

When she returned from her suspension, Inserillo was under an internal investigation for refusing to follow an order, and she was, once again, faced with an ultimatum: Outpatient treatment, or lose another month of pay.

The BuzzFeed News article goes into detail about Inserillo’s three months of outpatient treatment, the extents she went through to protect herself, and the troubles she faced at the department even after her outpatient treatment was finished. Ultimately, even though the NYPD investigation found out that her allegations against Margolis were “sustained,” Margolis was only transferred to another precinct and docked 10 vacation days.

“I had fought so hard. I thought something good would come of my fight,” she said.