Hudson County, NJ Welfare Division’s Fraud Department SUPERVISOR LULA LEE JOHNSON: A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AGAINST ALLEGED SEXUAL HARASSMENT, RACISM & RETALIATION IN HUDSON COUNTY

For 20 years, Lula Lee Johnson dedicated her life to public service as the administrative supervisor of the Hudson County Welfare Division’s Fraud Department. But instead of being treated with the respect and dignity she earned, she has allegedly faced sexual harassment, racism, and a relentless campaign of retaliation—all for simply standing up for what is right.

According to a powerful exposé by John Heinis of Hudson County View, Johnson’s lawsuit lays bare the deep-seated culture of abuse inside the Hudson County government. The allegations are disturbing, heartbreaking, and infuriating:

• Johnson alleges that her boss, Robert Knapp, sexually harassed her—going so far as to grope her. She reported this a year ago, yet the county allegedly refused to investigate.

• When she and her co-workers signed a petition reporting a colleague for using the n-word against Black employees, she allegedly faced further retaliation. Instead of protecting her, the system turned against her.

• She was deliberately excluded from key administrator meetings because she refused to welcome Knapp’s alleged sexual advances.

• She was ignored, overworked, and forced to take on extra assignments—treatment she alleges directly stemmed from her refusal to comply with Knapp’s misconduct.

• She sought help from outside counties and agencies because she was intentionally denied proper staffing, but her cries for justice went unheard.

• After her husband suffered a stroke, she was forced to take furlough days because her request for intermittent forms was ignored.

And where was the Hudson County government in all of this? Nowhere. Instead of protecting an employee who had devoted two decades to public service, they allegedly enabled, ignored, and participated in the abuse.

This is not just a lawsuit. This is a call to action. How many more women in Hudson County have suffered the same fate? How many others have been harassed, retaliated against, or forced into silence by those in power?

We see this pattern again and again in New Jersey, from Mayor and Senator Brian Stack’s alleged cover-ups of sexual assault and retaliation in Union City to the corruption infecting government offices across the state.

Lula Lee Johnson’s courage to come forward is a beacon of hope for every public employee who has suffered in silence. She is fighting not just for herself, but for every woman who has been harassed, every employee who has been discriminated against, and every worker who has been abused by a system that protects the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable.

This is about justice. This is about accountability. This is about stopping the cycle of abuse and corruption in Hudson County.

If you have any additional information about alleged corruption, harassment, or discrimination in Hudson County or Union City, I urge you to come forward.

📞 Call or Text the Leroy Truth Investigations Corruption Tips Hotline at 305-707-8325

📧 Email: LeroyTruth247@gmail.com

📬 Mail: Leroy Truth P.O. Box 3464 Stamford, CT 06905

To John Heinis and Hudson County View—thank you for your reporting and for shining a light on this critical issue.

The time for silence is over. The time for justice is now.