Mike Melton, Along With Town Attorneys and CSEA Leadership, Negotiate Stipulation That Indefinitely Bars Melton From Entering Department of Engineering & Facilities Management at Clarkstown Town Hall
By Tina Traster
A Town of Clarkstown grounds maintenance supervisor has been indefinitely barred from entering the Department of Engineering & Facilities Management (DEFM) office at Town Hall due to allegations of lewd and inappropriate, sexually charged behavior, according to multiple sources and documents shared with RCBJ.
The stipulation, which says Michael Melton cannot have any contact with the victim, was agreed upon by the town attorney, union reps and Melton, the grounds maintenance supervisor who agreed to the terms.
Melton, who works on the town’s cul-de-sac team, which maintains landscaping and upkeep in Clarkstown’s nearly 191 cul-de-sacs and surrounding town property, has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances, using lascivious and inappropriate language, and creating a hostile work environment in the department, according to several sources and documents reviewed by RCBJ.
Employees who have filed complaints with the local and state CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association) in recent months say this pattern of behavior stretches as far back as 2019. While the Clarkstown CSEA confirms there in an “ongoing investigation” into Melton’s behavior, the local union, along with the town attorney’s office, and Melton negotiated a stipulation that prevents Melton from entering the department’s physical office at 10 Maple Avenue. Melton’s office is in a garage at 40 First Street.
The CSEA is a labor union that represents public service and government workers. Clarkstown’s CSEA is headed by Ray Francis, a Clarkstown Code Enforcement Officer.
“As a matter of general policy, the Town does not comment on individual personnel matters,” said a town spokesperson. “The Town takes all complaints of harassment very seriously. We are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful work environment for every employee. We maintain rigorous procedures that ensure all complaints brought to our attention are thoroughly reviewed and appropriately addressed including the so referenced matter.”
RCBJ reached out to Melton for comment, but he did not respond.
The investigation has come at a time when the department has been thrown into a state of upheaval. In July, Michael Gianatasio, Director of the DEFM was put on paid administrative leave after blowing the whistle on “irregularities” on a $9 million contract between the town and Siemens International Industry Inc. The town attorney at the time said he was put on paid administrative leave for allegedly omitting information on an annual disclosure form.
In late August, Gianatasio’s Assistant Director Garabet Karakoulian was also placed on paid administrative leave until further notice, and without explanation. Chris Wagner remains in charge of the day-to-day operations.
But the town’s Deputy Supervisor Al Moroni, who has allegedly accepted deeply discounted HVAC services from a town contractor who worked closely with DEFM personnel, has not been put on paid leave. Instead, he was named interim administrator for DEFM, which worries the alleged victims because they say Moroni has a “cozy” relationship with Melton.
Victims who’ve come forward say Melton has made unwanted advances, tells sexually charged jokes that use foul language and references to genitalia (specifically a joke about cakes and phalluses), comments on the appearance of women, and has at times tried to give at least two employees “a shoulder massage,” according to written statements. He has invited employees for drinks during working hours, according to a complaint being filed with the New York State CSEA.
In 2019, an employee brought similar complaints to town leadership when Dennis Letson was the department’s director. Letson worked for Clarkstown for 24 years as the Director of Engineering and Facilities Management and was the First Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Control, before the departments were merged. Now, he serves as a consultant, village engineer, and member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee for the Village of Upper Nyack, which is in the Town of Clarkstown, but has a separate government.
Reached at his office in the Village of Upper Nyack this week, Letson said he had “no comment” about Melton or the 2019 complaint.
Longtime employees say there has been an “old boys club” atmosphere in the male-dominated department in Clarkstown for years. In 2019, after an employee complained about unwanted touching by Melton, Melton was ordered to complete a course in sexual harassment in the workplace, according to several sources.
More recently, Melton’s supervisors documented a victim’s complaint in an internal report. The report says supervisors spoke with the employee who recounted “an incident that occurred in 2019 involving allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against Mr. Melton.” The report acknowledges the findings are based on what the victim has said, and not on first-hand observation. The report also says the victim said that after reporting Melton in 2019, she became the subject of retaliation.
The victim, according to the memo, also told supervisors that “no meaningful resolution was ever provided to her and she was informed by then town attorney Leslie Kahn, and Letson, she would not be advised of the outcome of the investigation and what actions, if any, had been taken.”
The report concludes with the victim saying she “continues to feel uncomfortable working in the same office as Mr. Melton.”
The allegations of sexual harassment were turned over to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office several months ago in a report that detailed a host of issues in DEFM.
The DA’s office acknowledged the complaint but said it had no comment at this time.
Another alleged victim, who spoke to RCBJ on the condition of anonymity, also said Melton’s behavior caused her stress and anxiety, in what otherwise would be a “dream job.” She too described unwanted physical touching and sexual advances. She said she goes out of her way to avoid being in the same vicinity as Melton and turns down opportunities to work overtime or better hours to avoid contact with Melton.
Melton joined Clarkstown in 2011; he earns $137,263, according to Clarkstown’s 2026 published list of salaries.
Town employees take a New York State-mandated annual course in sexual harassment, which is administered by Dan Caprara, the town’s Safety Manager. Caprara is also a member of Clarkstown’s CSEA. Victims say he is aware of the allegations.
“Melton is just the latest in a long list of male supervisors in the town who harass and abuse women,” said one of the victims on the condition of anonymity.
Sexual harassment remains a persistent issue in both the private and public sector, though Project WHEN, a nonprofit focused on ending workplace harassment and hostile work environments, says they are particularly widespread throughout government sectors, including municipal agencies, local police departments, and elected offices. Small town government environments often present risks that make preventing and addressing harassment challenging. Unlike state and federal agencies, small towns do not necessarily have independent Human Resources departments to handle complaints. In the case of Melton, victims either turned to immediate supervisors, town attorneys or union reps.
The #MeToo movement animated women and activists nationally and internationally to demand safe and level workplace environments nearly a decade ago.
Also, governments in tight-knit communities are filled with people who know one another, and their personal and professional lives often overlap. Victims often fear coming forward will not only cost them their job but also alienate them socially within their own community. According to data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), nearly half of all sexual harassment charges are filed concurrently with retaliation claims. In small towns, the fear that a complaint will result in being blacklisted from future local employment heavily suppresses reporting.
Departments like DEFM are male-dominated sectors – as is most of Clarkstown’s leadership. The entire town board is male, as are most of its department’s deputies and town-appointed boards. It has been more than a decade since a woman served a full term on the town council.
Women often feel isolated or peerless in male-dominated departments such as public works, sanitation, and local law enforcement. These departments historically report higher rates of masculine cultures where misconduct is normalized.
Clarkstown and the Town Highway Department (under Wayne Ballard) was the target of a $5 million sexual harassment lawsuit in 2019.
Victoria Malone, a 34-year-old woman employed as a machine operator and maintenance worker by the Clarkstown Highway Department, sued the Department, its leadership, the Town, and several co-workers for sexual harassment, physical assault, and promoting a “toxic atmosphere” of “gender-based discrimination.” Malone, the only non-administrative female in the Department alleged, “the Department supervisors knowingly allowed Ms. Malone’s coworkers to subject her to an ongoing hostile work environment, and the Department took no disciplinary action against the male employees who harassed Ms. Malone.” Over the years she repeatedly complained to supervisors, the union, and others about “humiliating”, “inappropriate”, “disgusting and degrading sexual comments”, and “physical harassment” by co-workers.
Clarkstown settled the case with Malone in January 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
