A lesbian locomotive engineer is suing the Long Island Railroad for millions, accusing superiors of punishing her more harshly than her co-workers because she's gay and Asian-American. Melissa Stampf, 43, was accused of grabbing a fellow engineer's breast in a parking lot at the West Side rail yards. Stampf had been friends with her accuser, Angela Trigg, leading up the incident, and even shared a locker with her, the Daily News reports. But that collegiality ended one day in June 2006, when Stampf spotted Trigg sitting in her car and went over to say hello.
"I put my hand on and squeezed her shoulder," Stampf testified yesterday. "She said, 'What are you doing?' She said if I touched her again she'll 'break my fucking arm.' I was shocked. She repeated it again, 'Don't fucking touch me.' I felt there was some kind of tension in the air and I walked away." (A threat to break somebody's arm does tend to harsh the mellow.) A male co-worker in Trigg's car backed up Trigg's allegation that Stampf didn't grab her shoulder, but instead "grabbed and jiggled" one of Trigg's breasts.
Stampf was arrested by MTA police, but the Manhattan DA declined to press charges. She was ultimately suspended for ten days without pay, and the lawsuit alleges that she was punished more harshly than two white men previously accused of inappropriate behavior toward the same engineer. (According to the Daily News, Trigg previously accused a male co-worker of slapping her buttocks and another male of lewd comments; both were docked five days' pay.) Newsday (paywall) reports that Stampf claims she suffered emotional distress, and in opening statements her lawyer said, "The Long Island Rail Road treated Melissa Stampf differently than the white males."
