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‘I just want justice’: Weedsport employee discloses workplace harassment claim

Carson DiRisio said she was nervous to drive to work every day.

In December, DiRisio — a village of Weedsport public works employee — filed a workplace violence and harassment complaint against her boss, who also is the mayor's son. The filing of the complaint with the village's harassment committee led the municipality to hire the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm to conduct a third-party investigation. More than four months later, the Weedsport Board of Trustees accepted "a voluntary separation and resignation agreement" with Department of Public Works Superintendent James Saroodis, a decision that ended his paid administrative leave put in place in February.

DiRisio, 21, said she filed the complaint because James was creating a hostile and unsafe work environment, and was "being very abusive towards me."

James declined to speak publicly about the matter, but his wife, Cheryl Saroodis, and his attorney have both defended him by saying that the allegations are not true and not proven.

DiRisio said she was unsure how to handle the situation, so she asked "low-key" questions that led her to become aware of the village's harassment committee.

The Citizen:
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