August 13, 2016
Medford Police Department//Contributed photo
The new police chief in North Hanover Township was fired by Medford, where he was also accused of sexual harassment. But the cases against Theodore Bud Wells were kept secret.
A newly-appointed police chief in South Jersey was previously fired by another town in the same county.
Theodore Bud Wells, recently promoted to chief in North Hanover Township, Burlington County, was fired in 2004 by Medford Township for what was termed an unspecified “local conviction” that was hidden from public view by a confidential agreement, according to a report by transparency activist John Paff.
North Hanover is about 14 miles northeast of Medford.
And there was a second hidden lawsuit settlement in Medford against Wells and the department for allegations of sexual harassment. In that suit, Wells is alleged to have tried to unbutton a police dispatcher's pants while both were on duty.
Related story: Former S.C. cop, a Medford native, faces possibility of life in prison
An April 11, 2005 court document unearthed by Paff shows the first case was quietly settled after Wells had gone to court to appeal his firing from Medford.
Medford agreed to term Wells' separation as a "resignation in good standing," and to dismiss all disciplinary charges against him. The township also agreed to provide his future prospective employees with a "neutral employment reference" and pay him $20,000.
Wells, in turn, agreed to keep the settlement confidential.
The agreement, which says that it was made "without an admission of liability or wrongdoing by either party," was reached because of "the cost and uncertainty of litigation."
In a second confidential Medford case, a former police dispatcher, Nicole Hoffman, was paid $300,000 in return for agreeing not to discuss the settlement of her September 2003 sexual harassment and workplace retaliation suit against Wells, the department and the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, according to Paff.
Wells, then a corporal, is alleged to have made sexual advances, and called Hoffman “hottie” or “sexy” rather than using her name.
The suit contended Wells even tried to unbutton the dispatcher’s pants while both were on duty on Dec. 11, 2002.
Hoffman claimed that local police and the prosecutor's office then failed to act appropriately to investigate the incident.
Paff’s report says the county was also a party to Hoffman's $300,000 settlement.
North Hanover, Medford and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office could not be reached Saturday for comment.
A message emailed to Wells was not immediately answered on Saturday.
For the full report by Paff, click here.
