Bombshell Allegations of Harassment and Retaliation Unveiled in New Lawsuit Against Roger Merritt and Waste Management Authority

A civil complaint filed in the V.I. Superior Court earlier this month contains shocking claims of sexual harassment, intimidation, retaliation, and mismanagement at the V.I. Waste Management Authority, centering around the alleged behavior of Roger E. Merritt Jr., VIWMA’s executive director.

The suit is filed by counsel Lee Rohn on behalf of Nadine Noorhasan, stating she was harassed by Merritt, who pursued an inappropriate romantic relationship with his junior officer. That relationship allegedly ended when he resigned from the agency in 2018, but after his return two years later, Noorhasan claims he tried to resume things with her. She declined, and according to the lawsuit, that’s when Merritt began to exact revenge — causing disciplinary problems and ultimately demoting her in favor of someone she alleges was completely unqualified to hold the position from which she was removed.

The 25-page complaint, filed earlier this month, lists both Merritt and WMA as defendants and asks for a jury trial on six counts — first, that Noorhasan was discriminated against on the basis of sex by the defendants, secondly that she suffered sexual harassment by Merritt with the knowledge of WMA, which allegedly endorsed said conduct by doing nothing to stop it. Third, that Noorhasan suffered retaliation from Merritt because she refused his advances, with Waste Management allegedly being complicit in said retaliation. Noorhasan also claims that Merritt and WMA breached their duty of dealing with her fairly and in good faith.

Broadening the complaint outward from just the treatment of herself as a professional and employee of the agency, Noorhasan alleges that the Waste Management Authority violated the territorial Whistleblowers Protection Act when it suspended her after she reported the authority’s violations of prevailing regulations and the consent decree currently in place against WMA. Further, she said that personnel shuffles by the agency to remove her as Compliance Management and Enforcement director in favor of someone unqualified to hold the position has cost VI taxpayers, of which Noorhasan in one, economic damages.

The complaint lays out Noorhasan’s tenure at VIWMA. She began as Compliance Manager in October 2013, earning an annual salary of $65,000 plus benefits. Roger Merritt came onboard as executive director in 2016. By March 2017, due to the recommendation of the previous WMA head, Noorhasan was working as the Compliance Management and Enforcement director, and her compensation had been commensurately bumped up to $85,000.

She admits to entering into a personal relationship with Merritt, her then-boss, and says he made representation to her that it was a committed romantic relationship. Noorhasan says she soon learned that her relationship with Merritt was in no way exclusive. She says she realized that she was being used by Merritt as a patsy, performing the majority of his work as executive director, as well as her own. Noorhasan says that by mid-2017, she was writing Merritt’s presentations, representing him at meetings, all while trying to get him to agree to settle down into an exclusive relationship. She says he led her to believe that he would, but now realizes that was never his intention.