A group of Bergen County employees says they are losing their jobs because they failed to support the election of County Executive James Tedesco.
A group of Bergen County employees says they are losing their jobs because they failed to support the election of County Executive James Tedesco.
A lawsuit filed Monday calls the layoffs "blatant political patronage terminations."
Tedesco unseated Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan in the November 2014 election. A year later, a group of 21 employees who either supported Donovan or opposed Tedesco received notice that they were being terminated "for reasons of economy and efficiency."
The suit contends that is bogus, saying the county hired 600 new employees in Tedesco's first year. The lawsuit seeks to stop the layoffs, effective Dec. 31.
"They should not lose their job because of who they did or did not support politically," Anthony Rainone, the attorney representing eight Bergen County employees who filed suit.
Michael Pagan, a spokesman for the county, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation and the personnel issues involved.
Many new administrations clean house once they take office. For example, Tedesco made Dominic Novelli county administrator, replacing Republican Ed Trawinski. Tedesco and Novelli are both defendants in the suit.
But the employees set to lose their jobs are lower-level civil-service workers. Political affiliation should have played no role in their ability to do their work, Rainone said.
The suit also seeks to win $5 million for the eight plaintiffs named in the complaint and 13 other workers scheduled to lose their jobs.
Before the layoffs, county officials transferred or demoted many workers to positions where they had little work or experience, the lawsuit says.
For example, prior to Tedesco taking office, Della Joyce Carroll, an 18-year employee of the county, managed five golf courses for the county. The lawsuit says Carroll was excluded from meetings and in March, transferred to work at the county zoo.
Romaine, part of the Roseland firm Brach Eichler, has filed an injunction to stop the layoffs. U.S. District Judge Madeline Arelo has scheduled a hearing for Friday in Newark.
"We hope the federal court will intervene now to stop what we consider to be a blatant political-based termination," Rainonesaid.
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.