MONMOUTH COUNTY – A lawsuit filed by Monmouth County Freeholder John Curley against the County was dismissed in federal court on July 25.
Curley filed the lawsuit after his comments at the May 2017 Bradley Beach Memorial Day Parade spurred a sexual harassment investigation.
The investigation found Curley to have spoken sexist remarks about women at the parade, which could be classified as sex discrimination or constitute a hostile work environment. The Board of Chosen Freeholders condemned this behavior, later publicly censuring Curley.
On July 25, District Judge Brian Martinotti dismissed Curley’s lawsuit but also found Monmouth County in contempt for failing to keep parts of the investigation private during the Board’s censure of Curley back in December of 2017.
Judge Martinotti is allowing Curley until August 24 to file an amended complaint. He has also ordered the county to pay Curley’s legal bills.
Curley’s attorney, Angelo Genova, said in a statement that they are pleased that the court will hear Curley’s complaint further, emphasizing that they will continue to fight to “preserve his reputation.”
The Board of Chosen Freeholders does not agree with the sentiment.
“Today’s decision by Federal Court was a repudiation of Curley’s claims, all 12 counts were dismissed. Suing the county is a tactic Curley turned to when trying to justify his offensive language and abusive behavior,” stated Freeholder Director Tom Arnone. “We regret that we had to use precious taxpayers’ dollars to defend standing up for our employees and values.”
Arnone stated that the Board is now calling on Curley to “do the right thing” and apologize and resign.
Recently, Curley sent us a Letter to the Editor which we ran in our newspapers and on Jersey Shore Online.
