The suit accuses Superintendent Jesse D'Amore and Assistant Superintendent Anthony Seidita of violating state and federal racketeering laws.
HACKENSACK - Two Department of Public Works employees have filed a civil rights lawsuit, claiming supervisors forced them to perform free labor, which included making and selling homemade bullets on city property.
The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Newark, accuses Hackensack DPW Superintendent Jesse D'Amore and Assistant Superintendent Anthony Seidita of violating state and federal racketeering laws, according to NorthJersey.com.
Mario Candela and Richard Terranova say their bosses threatened to fire them if they did not perform the work, which also allegedly included moving furniture from a Hackensack municipal judge's home to a recycling center and siphoning heating oil from a Paterson school to resell privately, according to the report.
"D'Amore and Seidita were engaged in a pattern and practice of using the Department of Public Works for their own personal gain," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Mark B. Frost of Philadelphia. "And they were doing that by intimidating my clients under threat of retaliation, firing, or discharge."
According to the report, City Manager Ted M. Ehrenburg has requested that the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office investigate the complaint.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.