A former caseworker at a New York City senior shelter said that she was fired for warning that a twice-convicted transgender murderer posed a threat to the facility.
Monica Archer, the case worker, filed a lawsuit this week alleging that George Daly House, a short-term housing facility for senior citizens, allowed the alleged serial killer, Marceline Harvey, an 83-year-old biological male who identifies as a woman, to live at the facility, according to the New York Post.
According to the report, Archer began her position at the facility in September 2019 and began speaking out when she noticed Harvey’s “erratic and dangerous” behavior.
Reportedly, Harvey, who is on lifetime parole after spending 50 years in prison for killing two other women, “made constant threats to kill” Archer and other members of the staff at the shelter. The complaint noted that Harvey allegedly kept a firearm at the shelter and tried to follow Archer home occasionally.
“[Archer] had no choice but to continue working with Ms. Harvey despite serious safety concerns and fear for her well-being,” the 16-page lawsuit obtained by The Post said. “[Archer] complained that she reasonably believed that having Ms. Harvey at the residence of metal detectors was a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety.”
Archer suggested to higher-ups at the shelter that Harvey be placed in more “supportive” housing. However, the shelter “released Ms. Harvey into society to live by herself, contrary to what Defendants’ program and Plaintiff recommended, violating its own rules.”
Archer then filed a complaint against the shelter with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Her bosses allegedly retaliated, put her on janitorial duty, and did not allow her to work remotely.
In March, Archer learned that Harvey was charged with killing a 68-year-old woman whose body parts were discovered around Brooklyn.
Shortly after, Archer claims she was fired for warning the facility about Harvey in the first place. She was suspended without pay in May and fired for insubordination one week later.
“Ms. Archer was put in a position at work that no employee should face,” her attorney, Jeffrey Risman, told The Post this week. “Everyone should feel safe at work, and employers should effectively respond to safety concerns.”
Earlier this year, The Post reported that Harvey is “in touch with both her masculine and feminine sides, but her male persona gets her in trouble.”
The New York Times noted that Harvey was accused of attempted rape at age 14 against an 8-year-old girl.
In March, Harvey pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse in the death of the 68-year-old woman, Susan Leyden.