A second Delco employee filed a federal suit saying officials ignored years of sexual assault by ex-emergency chief
Maille Bonsall accused Tim Boyce, the former head of Delaware County's Department of Emergency Services, of "unwanted verbal, physical and sexual harassment," including exposing himself to her.
A former assistant to Tim Boyce, Delaware County’s longtime director of emergency services, said in a lawsuit Friday that he repeatedly kissed, grabbed, and groped her and masturbated in front of her in his office.
Maille Bonsal said Boyce, who was fired in May after two other women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching, routinely subjected her to “unwanted verbal, physical and sexual harassment during and after work hours.”
Outside of work, Boyce once forced himself on her inside his vehicle and once goaded her into drinking champagne she believes was drugged, according to the lawsuit, filed Friday against Delaware County. The suit says county officials knew of Boyce’s inappropriate behavior and did nothing about it.
The abuse began when Boyce hired her in 2019 and ended only when he was fired amid a criminal investigation into his treatment of two other female employees.
Bonsall’s attorney, Mark Schwartz, wrote in the suit that she did her best to keep her boss at bay.
“Her goal was simply to survive and get through each day, finding new ways to keep him away from her,” Schwartz said. “She became numb and disassociated from her circumstances in the vain hope of avoiding worse.”
The suit names members of the Delaware County Council and other high-level county officials, asserting that they “facilitated and protected Boyce when it came to his well-known and inappropriate sexual behavior.”
In a statement Friday, a county spokesperson said officials would not comment on pending litigation, but that they take “the safety, respect, and well-being of all employees seriously.”
“The County is steadfast in its commitment to fostering a workplace that upholds these standards, where harassment, discrimination, and retaliation are neither tolerated nor ignored,” the spokesperson said.
Last month, another woman, Jacqueline Kahler, filed a federal lawsuit with similar allegations against Boyce. Kahler said in the suit that Boyce summoned her to his office and attempted to kiss her. When she rebuffed him, the suit says, he said, “You have a really nice ass. Let me feel it,” and groped her as she walked away.
Boyce has been charged with indecent assault and related crimes against Kahler, and that case is pending in Delaware County Court. He is also charged with assaulting another former employee, who alleged that he lifted up her skirt and asked her what sexual positions she prefers.
Andrew Edelberg, a lawyer representing Boyce in his criminal cases, said Friday that Bonsall’s allegations are “completely fabricated.”
“All of the facts will come to light at trial,” he said. “This is another situation that is uncorroborated and unsubstantiated.”
According to Bonsall’s lawsuit, Boyce behaved as if the two were in a relationship, often telling her that he loved her and understood her better than her husband. Boyce gave her money and expensive gifts, despite her protests, and refused her attempts to give them back, the suit said.
In September 2019, Boyce invited Bonsall to a conference in New York City that he told her other county staff would be attending, but no one else came along, according to the suit. After Boyce drove them to the city in his car, he forcibly kissed her, complained about his marriage, and suggested they “get a room,” the lawsuit said. She refused his advances and asked him to take her home, according to the suit.
On the way back to Delaware County, Bonsall said, Boyce stopped at a rest stop and pushed her into his vehicle’s backseat, where he put his hands down her pants.
In subsequent years, she said, other members of the emergency services department treated her poorly amid rumors that she and Boyce were having an affair.
She said she witnessed how Boyce would downplay sexual harassment complaints filed by other female employees about their male coworkers. But she was “too intimidated by [Boyce’s] authority and from her fear of losing her job” to speak up, according to the suit.
More than once, the suit said, Boyce exposed himself to Bonsall and masturbated when she worked at a computer in his office, according to the lawsuit. Sometimes, the suit said, he asked her to participate in the sex act.
In July 2023, Boyce came into Bonsall’s office and handed her a coffee mug full of champagne, as he prepared to leave the office to attend a wedding, the suit said. He repeatedly asked her to drink from it, calling her a “bad girl” and asking if he needed to “punish her” when she refused, the lawsuit said.
She drank some to placate him, according to the suit, then woke up hours later, feeling disoriented, with gaps in her memory. Boyce had left the office by then, and she believed he had drugged her, the lawsuit said.
Even after Boyce was fired, Bonsall said, her workplace mistreatment continued. Boyce’s successor and other county employees have made performing her job difficult by changing her access to certain computer systems and functions, according to the lawsuit.