PALISADES PARK -- A borough employee who has been out of work since 2023 due to mold conditions in borough hall is expected to have her employment terminated Monday night.
Cindy Gardenier has worked for the borough for the last nine years and was last serving as a bilingual secretary/secretary to the borough clerk with a salary of $55,900.
But, her last day of work was April 30, 2023 after seeking medical treatment for mold-related symptoms from the conditions inside borough hall.
"I couldn't work in that environment anymore," Gardenier said. "I was constantly getting sick, my eyes burned, constant dry cough and hacking."
Gardenier was ordered back into work by certified letter twice or her position would be considered abandoned. When Gardenier asked for proof that the building was mold free, there was no response. Gardenier said she also filed a sexual harassment complaint against the mayor that has gone ignored. She asked in writing for any results, reports, or action plans and was never given a response.
Gardenier was then issued a RICE, a notice to discuss a person's job at the Nov. 25 meeting.
Mold at borough hall
The Record and NorthJersey.com first reported mold conditions in borough hall and the police department in September of 2023.
In 2022, mold was discovered in Borough Hall and in police headquarters, housed in the same building at 275 Broad Ave.
At the time, over 50 claims of injury have been filed to the insurance group about illness caused by the building conditions and mold in borough hall, police headquarters and attached buildings, according to officials and documents received through the Open Public Records Act.
Over 400 pages of emails and documents obtained by The Record and NorthJersey.com, mostly through OPRA requests, show lingering health concerns among employees attributed to mold contamination and air quality in the buildings.
The borough spent $1 million on trailers to relocate the police department and borough employees during mold remediation, but the trailers still sit empty.
A resolution for "authorization of terminating employment" is on the Nov. 25 agenda. It did not appear on the Nov. 18 work session agenda.
Gardenier said she won't be in attendance for the 6 p.m. meeting because she is still afraid to enter the building. She did request for her employment to be discussed in public and not in closed session.
"I have a son and he's my first priority. I need to be around a long time for him," she said. "I'm not risking my life when they have done nothing to fix the building."
The mayor, all council members and the borough attorney were asked to comment.
Only Councilman Mike Vietri responded who said as far as he knows there is still mold in the building.
"They keep sending bids out, but it never has been cleaned up," Vietri said. "If you go through the building right now there are open walls, wires in the ceilings exposed."
Gardenier said despite asking for accommodations to work remotely she was never given the opportunity.
"I refuse to go back until I have in writing, by an official that the building is safe," Gardenier said. "They can't produce that because it's not."
Borough Manager Raymond Herr sent Gardenier a letter in September ordering her to return to work. The later said the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) "has advised that there is no danger or violation of the health code or public occupational safety standards regarding mold or mold spores in the borough facility. PEOSH has closed the matter."
After Gardenier contacted PEOSH herself she was told in writing that PEOSH only addressed visible mold and that there was no presence of visible mold during their last inspection and that the borough is engaged in retaining services to clean borough hall.
Gardenier was one of the workmen's comp complaints with the mold. She has been under the care of a pulmonologist who advised her not to go back into the building and to seek remote work.
"I keep providing the borough my doctor's notes and recommendations and they just want to give me a mask," she said. "that's their remedy for this. It's unacceptable."
Gardenier said she had no history of asthma or respiratory illnesses before. Her doctor diagnosed her with workplace asthma.
"Nothing is being done," she said. "They just want to fire me and get rid of me and proceed with business as normal without fixing anything like they always have."
Sexual harrassment complaints
Gardenier also filed complaints against mayor Chong "Paul" Kim for sexual harassment.
In her correspondence with Herr regarding her return to work over the mold she asked why the borough manager, mayor and the attorney haven't addressed her complaints.
She said she also can't see herself returning to in-person work. "I cannot return to work and be in the presence of individuals who conduct themselves as I have identified in that complaint," she wrote to Herr in an email she shared with The Record. "These are conditions that the Borough has failed to address and which are causing me great pain and hardship and forcing me to stay out of work, yet it seems as though no one wants to talk about it. This is clearly malpractice by many involved here amongst other things."
Gardenier said that the mayor has been inappropriate with the way he speaks dating back to when he was first elected as a council member.
"There are a lot of inappropriate comments and him coming close, looking over my shoulder," she said. "I was super uncomfortable and started making excuses to leave the office space whenever he came in."
A former Palisades Park clerk who quit this year recently filed a lawsuit against the borough and mayor claiming sexual harassment.
One example included in the lawsuit says the mayor once discussed his prostate with Gina Kim and said it was uncomfortable and in need of a "prostate massage." The lawsuit also details an alleged incident in which the mayor told Gina Kim's co-workers, in front of her, that she had been mistaken for a prostitute at a past League of Municipalities event.