Angelina Pivarnick Sexual Harassment Lawsuit: FDNY Payout and Policy

Angelina Pivarnick, the Jersey Shore cast member who worked as an FDNY emergency medical technician on Staten Island, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in September 2019 against the City of New York and her direct supervisor, Lt. Jonathan Schechter. New York City settled its portion of the case in September 2020 for $350,000, without admitting wrongdoing.¹

What Pivarnick Alleged

Pivarnick was assigned to EMS Battalion 23 at the Rossville station on Staten Island and, after a series of injuries, returned to light duty there in March 2018.² Her complaint centered on two supervisors at that station.

She accused Lt. Schechter of sending sexually explicit text messages beginning in August 2017. One message from September 15, 2017 read: “Your ass looked amazing and I wish I wasn’t working or in uniform because I definitely would’ve kissed those amazing lips.”³ The most serious allegation described an incident on May 3, 2018, in which Schechter allegedly grabbed and squeezed her buttocks in a parking lot, making contact with her vaginal area. He then texted her: “That ass! If you only knew the thoughts in my mind.”² Pivarnick said she felt unable to reject his advances because she feared retaliation from him and other supervisors.

A second supervisor, Lt. David Rudnitzky, was accused of making sexually graphic comments in front of coworkers and questioning her about her sex life, including how many Jersey Shore cast members she had slept with. Rudnitzky was named in the complaint but was not listed as a defendant in the federal case.²

The FDNY’s Internal Findings

Pivarnick filed a formal complaint with the FDNY’s Equal Employment Opportunity office on May 17, 2018, about two weeks after the alleged groping. On March 25, 2019, the EEO office wrote to Pivarnick that it had found “sufficient credible and corroborating evidence that Lieutenant Schechter engaged in the discriminatory conduct alleged.”³ The allegations against Rudnitzky were also substantiated.⁴

The Lawsuit and the Settlement

Pivarnick sued on September 16, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in Pivarnick v. The City of New York & Jonathan Schechter, Case No. 1:19-cv-05274. The complaint alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation for filing internal complaints.² Her attorneys, Kevin Mintzer and David Harrison, said she was coming forward “on behalf of herself and other women who may be facing similar mistreatment.”⁵

The city agreed to pay $350,000 and was dismissed from the suit on September 25, 2020. Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the New York City Law Department, said the claim had been “fully investigated” and “the appropriate corrective action was taken,” and called the settlement “in the best interests of the city.”¹ The claims against Lt. Schechter individually remained active as of late September 2020.⁴

What Happened to the Accused Supervisors

The specific discipline imposed on either lieutenant was never publicly disclosed, and no criminal charges against them were reported. Pivarnick received a letter stating that Rudnitzky would receive “appropriate discipline,” but according to the court filing he faced no significant consequences and continued working as a lieutenant at the Rossville station.⁶

The Policy That Followed

In March 2025, Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker enacted the FDNY’s first formal policy banning romantic or intimate relationships between supervisors and the subordinates they routinely oversee. Any such relationship must be disclosed to the Deputy Commissioner of Human Capital, one party will be transferred, and violations can result in discipline up to termination.⁷ Pivarnick’s settlement, along with a separate $205,000 settlement paid in 2022 to paramedic Maria Miranda, was cited among the cases that prompted the change.⁸