Newburgh highway worker says harassment complaint left her on leave

A probationary Town of Newburgh highway employee says a harassment complaint against two supervisors left her on administrative leave, putting her job status in limbo as town officials, county civil-service rules and state and federal civil-rights agencies all come into play.

The worker filed her complaint with the town on Feb. 9, alleging a pattern of hostile and retaliatory conduct that included physical interference while she performed her duties, public berating in front of coworkers and a lack of proper job training. She said she started working for the town in early June 2025 and did not receive on-boarding training, adding that another man hired during her time there also did not get it. She said the town has been investigating since February, but that she had only one procedural meeting with town leadership on April 20.

Her complaint now sits at the center of a process question as much as a personnel dispute: what happens to a worker who raises harassment concerns while still on probation. The employee said she has been left on leave and does not know whether she still has a job, while also worrying that the supervisors named in her complaint may still have access to potential witnesses. For a municipal department that handles essential road work, the stakes are not just personal. The Town of Newburgh Highway Department says it maintains more than 160 miles of town roads and operates with 32 full-time employees, plus a deputy superintendent, office clerk, three working leaders, three heavy equipment operators, 13 truck drivers, 11 laborers and eight part-time laborers at various times of year.

The department is listed on the town website as being headed by Highway Superintendent Mark Hall and is based at 90 Gardnertown Road in Newburgh. The employee’s probationary period had been expected to end in June 2026, but the town extended it. Orange County civil-service rules, amended Dec. 22, 2025, allow probationary terms to be extended by the number of workdays missed that do not count as time served, and those rules apply to towns, villages, school districts, special districts and libraries across the county.

Outside town hall, the worker also filed complaints with the New York State Division of Human Rights and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The state agency says complaints are free, its investigators act as neutral factfinders and a full investigation can take several months or longer because it receives thousands of complaints each year. The EEOC’s Public Portal, launched nationwide on Nov. 1, 2017, screens whether the agency has legal authority and can move an allegation involving private employers, unions or state and local governments into intake, a formal charge and, in some cases, a notice of right to sue.

The case lands during a broader town leadership transition. Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio announced on Feb. 4, 2026, that he would not seek re-election and endorsed Deputy Supervisor Scott Manley as his successor, a shift that may shape how the town handles a dispute that has already moved beyond internal personnel review and into civil-rights channels.