911 dispatcher says coworkers bet on whether her supervisor was father of her baby

A former New Haven police and fire dispatcher has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming she faced workplace sexual harassment — including colleagues placing monetary bets on whether her supervisor fathered her child — before being wrongfully terminated after a surgery accommodation request was denied. According to court documents filed on September 17, Krystina Polchies alleges she resigned in September 2024 as a result of persistent harassment, retaliation and denied medical accommodations. Polchies claims that as a result of these actions, she “has lost and is continuing to lose salary, benefits and other prerequisites of employment, has suffered extreme humiliation, mental anxiety and emotional distress, and has been required to assume various incidental expenses,” as reported by the New Haven Register. City spokesperson Lenny Speiller addressed the filing in an email to the newspaper, stating that an administrator at the Connecticut Department of Labor previously found Polchies had left her position voluntarily without good cause. That ruling was later affirmed when the state’s Employment Security Appeals Division reviewed and dismissed an appeal filed by Polchies.“While we cannot comment on the specifics of this lawsuit, the city denies these allegations, and we do not expect a different finding by the court,” Speiller told the New Haven Register. A former New Haven 911 dispatcher is suing the city, claiming she faced workplace harassment before being wrongfully terminated. According to the lawsuit, the dispatcher’s coworkers placed bets on whether her supervisor was the father of her child (Google Earth)The lawsuit names the city as the sole defendant. The complaint was first brought before the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, which later granted authorization for Polchies to pursue the discrimination suit in court. Polchies joined the department in November 2022 and became pregnant in September 2023, according to the lawsuit. The following month, officials approved a request limiting her workload to 40 hours per week throughout her pregnancy.During that time, an unauthorized photo of Polchies jet skiing with her supervisor was posted inside a supervisor’s locker, the lawsuit claims. Rumors then spread that she was involved in a sexual relationship with her supervisor inside the facility, prompting the director and assistant director to investigate whether the supervisor had accessed private areas of the building.The suit further alleges that in December 2023, the supervisor sent Polchies a photograph of a poster hanging in a training room. Co-workers allegedly signed their names to the sheet to guess whether the supervisor was the father of her baby, with dollar amounts written beside several names to indicate active wagering.Following her maternity leave in the summer of 2024, Polchies underwent surgery for a medical condition. Upon returning to work in September 2024, she requested an accommodation restricting her schedule to 40 hours per week to undergo hyperbaric treatment, which the city denied, according to the lawsuit. She departed her position shortly after. The Independent has contacted the New Haven mayor’s office for comment.