LINCOLN PARK – The city’s insurance carrier has agreed to pay $115,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former city employee who says his supervisor and co-workers harassed him for nearly a decade for being a Christian.

Lawrence Andzelik, 46, worked in the city’s Department of Public Services from 1993 and 2003 and was subjected to near-daily persecution because of his strong religious beliefs, according to two lawsuits he brought against the city over the last 13 months.

He filed one suit in September 2004 in Wayne County Circuit Court and filed another in January in U.S. District Court. Both claims were identical in nature.

The settlement reached earlier this month between his attorney and the attorney for the city’s insurance carrier puts an end to both cases.

Andzelik contends that co-workers at the city’s motor pool smashed his radio to keep him from listening to Christian music, placed pictures of naked women in his Bible and threatened to sodomize him.

He says he had to endure mean-spirited jokes, slurs and offensive language, including racist and anti-Christian talk.

The harassment heightened, the suits say, when Andzelik complained to his supervisor, Kirk Rukenbrod, who was named individually in the suits. He retired from the city last year and couldn’t be reached for comment.

“As long as (Andzelik) suffered in silence, he was accepted,” the suits say. “However, when (he) complained to his supervisor about the offensive language and conduct, he was almost immediately subjected to severe and abusive retaliation.”

When Andzelik complained, the suits say, Rukenbrod screamed and cursed at him and “began a campaign of harassment, intimidation and retaliation.”

While other employees were allowed to listen to sexually suggestive music and watch graphic and violent TV shows on their breaks, the suits say, Rukenbrod would unplug the TV when Andzelik tried to watch religious programming on his breaks.

And when someone smashed Andzelik’s radio, the suits say, Rukenbrod ignored it and told him that listening to Christian music was a violation of the separation of church and state.

The suits say Rukenbrod threatened to ruin Andzelik’s reputation by spreading a false rumor that he smoked marijuana, which resulted in Andzelik being forced to take a random drug test in April 2001.

The constant harassment caused Andzelik to become depressed and put under the care of a doctor, who prescribed anti-depressants for him, the suits say.

Because of his illness, the suits say, Andzelik missed a lot of work, and even though he had documentation from his doctor to prove he was being treated, he was fired from his job because of a high number of absences.

An official from the city’s insurance carrier, Michigan Municipal League Liability Pool, said settling this case for $115,000 made the most sense.

“Prior to settlement, a mediation panel of three attorneys evaluated this case for settlement for $250,000 and pointed out that the exposure was potentially much higher,” Michael Forster said.

In a letter to the mayor and City Council, City Attorney Edward Zelenak said everyone should learn something from this suit.

“This case should once again serve as an educational tool for our city managers and employees on avoiding any type of conduct that would arrive (at) an intimation of sexual, racial, national origin or religious harassment,” he wrote.

Three city officials running in the Nov. 8 election are involved at differing levels in the case.

Thomas Murphy, the son of Councilman Thomas Murphy, is accused of being one of several employees who harassed Andzelik. The younger Murphy has since left the DPS and denies any wrongdoing.

“This is just a ploy by Larry to get some money,” he said. “Other than that, I don’t even know how I can be mentioned in it.”

The councilman said he wouldn’t comment specifically on the allegations, but he considered the lawsuit frivolous and stands behind his son’s account.

“The city obviously is what they refer to as a deep- pocket defendant,” Murphy said. “We get socked a number of times because we are a city.

“Anybody can pretty much say anything they want about our employees or how the city is run, and if you get a good Wayne County jury, we are stuck with a big dollar amount to pay out.”

Before being elected to the council two years ago, Valerie Brady worked for the DPS. She was an employee there during part of the time when the alleged harassment happened.

At Monday night’s council meeting, Brady said she never saw anything improper going on. When contacted later for comment, she said she was unable to.

“Because I have not reviewed the legal documents, I am unaware of the claims or what information I can release,” Brady said.

Patricia Lulko was the city’s personnel and purchasing director while Andzelik was employed. She retired last year and is now running to become city treasurer. She’s accused of knowing what was happening, but refusing to do anything to stop it.

“She did not want to remediate the outrageously hostile language, behavior and conduct in (the) workplace or to deal with the ‘good ole boy’ atmosphere in the Lincoln Park garage because one of the chief offenders was the son of a councilman,” the suits say.

When Andzelik brought his concerns to her attention, the suits say, Lulko told him: “I don’t want to hear about the little boy games played down there in the garage. … Keep your religion at home.”

Lulko denies saying that and said she fired Andzelik because he refused to come to work.

“He had some problems and we tried to work them out,” she said. “We sent him to an independent doctor who concluded there was nothing wrong with him. He had a choice: Either report to work or be terminated.”

Andzelik was indeed harassed while at work, she said, but not to the level he claims.

“There was some truth to it, but there was a lot of exaggeration in it also,” Lulko said. “There were a few things that did happen down there, but those issues were addressed.”

She said she couldn’t recall if any employees were ever disciplined for harassing Andzelik.

Attorneys representing both Andzelik and the city’s insurance carrier declined to comment on the settlement agreement.

As originally published in The News Herald, Oct. 15, 2005, by Jason Alley.