Judge orders Washington Township school board to pay $16K in legal fees in superintendent battle
Judge says Washington Township school board mounted "a frivolous" defense against lawsuit and orders it to pay $16K in legal fees.
A judge has ordered the Washington Township school board to pay $16,000 in legal fees for a lawsuit by a resident that challenged its vote suspending Superintendent Eric Hibbs.
Superior Court Judge Benjamin C. Telsey on Monday granted a request by Randy Ford seeking legal and court costs from the South Jersey school system.
In a lawsuit filed this spring, Ford contended the board violated the Open Public Meetings Act at its March 18 meeting when it suspended Hibbs.
Telsey agreed in a ruling in July, voiding the resolution to suspend Hibbs. The schools chief returned to work in August.
» READ MORE: Embattled Washington Township School Superintendent Eric Hibbs returns with little fanfare
The only matter before Telsey on Monday was whether Ford should be entitled to seek reimbursement for legal fees. Ford, an attorney, said he hopes the ruling will mean more transparency by the board.
“I want to know what the board is doing and action should be taken in public,” Ford said Tuesday. “They didn’t do that.”
Board president Julie Kozempel declined to comment Tuesday. The Machado law group, which handled the matter for the board’s insurance carrier, did not respond to a message seeking comment.
It was unclear whether the fees would be paid from the district’s operating budget or by insurance. The board approved a $5,231 payment in July to the Machado law firm.
“Hopefully, that’s the end of the case,” said attorney Stephen J. Edelstein, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ford.
The board has not publicly stated why it suspended the superintendent. Hibbs’ attorney has said his client was told that he was suspended because of an ethics complaint.
The complaint alleges Hibbs provided preferential treatment to a relative of a board member by changing a failing math grade in September 2023.
Hibbs has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging his suspension was in retaliation for raising questions about a district insurance contract.
Telsey said the board violated the Open Public Meetings Act when it voted on “a doctrine of necessity,” while in closed session. The board said the action was needed because several members had conflicts of interest and it did not have the quorum needed to vote.
The judge noted in his decision Monday that the board could have corrected the error by conducting another vote in public to comply with the law. He said he delayed the case to give the board time to act.
Telsey said the defense presented by the board was “meritless” and rejected claims that Ford lacked standing and the case was improperly filed in the law division.
“The defense was so meritless that it rises to the level of being frivolous,” the judge said. “The defense is without any reasonable basis in law or equity and could not be supported by a good faith argument at all.”
As the legal battle between the board and Hibbs continues, legal fees are mounting, records show. There have also been several ethics complaints and another lawsuit filed.
Since March, the district has paid conflict lawyers Stein, Supsie & Tedeschi nearly $10,000 to investigate the ethics complaint against Hibbs, according to invoices obtained by the Inquirer through the Open Public Records Act.
The board hired the Forked River firm at a March 25 meeting and agreed to pay the firm $165 an hour. The firm has not issued a report to the public.
The board extended the firm’s contract through December. The ethics matter is also pending before the New Jersey School Ethics Commission.
The complaint was filed with the New Jersey School Ethics Commission by two leaders of the Washington Township Education Association. Robert Scardino, the union‘s former vice president, has withdrawn from the complaint because of a lack of evidence. That left union president Gerard Taraschi as the complainant.
Meanwhile, the district’s former insurance broker, Christopher Milam, last month filed a defamation lawsuit against Hibbs and others alleging they made false statements about his credentials and a former contract with the district.
A state grand jury last month indicted Milam, a commissioner of the South Jersey Transportation Authority and another former member after they allegedly used their public office to retaliate against a political foe.
They are accused of conspiring in 2023 to deny payments to an agency contractor who had fallen out of favor with Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, prosecutors said.
Read the judge’s order: