Guard at Camden port files sexual-harassment suit

A female security guard at the Camden port facility has filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit against the South Jersey Port Corp.

Judy Stancliff, 62, of Deptford Township, is alleging that while working at the port as the lone woman in a crew of 16 security guards, she was subjected to derogatory and harassing comments, including remarks about female genitalia and suggestions that she should have sex with another worker.

Stancliff says in her suit that she reported the incidents to her superiors at the port, but that no action was taken against her coworkers.

The attorney representing the port corporation, Lawrence Berg, of Marshall, Denehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin in Cherry Hill, said his clients had no comment at this time.

Stancliff's attorney, Matthew Wolf of Pappas & Wolf in Moorestown, said his client was seeking unspecified monetary damages and mandatory sensitivity training for port security guards.

The Camden port comprises two separate facilities on the Delaware River and, combined with the Gloucester City port, moved 6.3 million tons of cargo in 2008. That ranked 70th in the country, according to the American Association of Port Authorities.

"She's the only female guard employed there, and if she were to leave they would win," Wolf said of Stancliff's posting.