Pemberton says it fired its CFO for losing $195,660 to a phishing scam. But she says she was wrongfully terminated.
Candice Pennewell claims her firing was retaliation for reporting internal ethics and spending violations.
Just a few months after losing her job as Pemberton Township’s chief financial officer, Candice Pennewell has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the township alleging that she was fired for doing her job — and she wants it back.
While Pennewell claims her firing was retaliation for reporting internal ethics and spending violations, the township says she was fired for losing $195,660 of taxpayer money to a phishing scam. But Pennewell says she wasn’t even at work when the fraudulent payment was made.
In the lawsuit filed Oct. 9, Pennewell requested she be reinstated with retroactive pay and benefits dating back to her firing on Aug. 26, just one day after she says she alerted township officials to a possible breach of state law regarding a contract with a waste collector.
According to the lawsuit, township officials told Pennewell that her termination was a result of the phishing scam the township fell victim to in June.
Pennewell claims that she was unfairly blamed for the incident, which occurred while she was out of the office on PTO, according to her lawsuit filed in Burlington Couny Superior Court. The township maintains that Pennewell authorized the payment, said Mayor Matt Bianchini.
Pennewell was appointed as Pemberton’s CFO in December 2022 and began her second four-year term on Jan. 1, 2026.
She received an annual salary of $135,000 through 2025.
On June 4, an employee within the township’s finance office authorized an electronic payment to an account they later learned was impersonating a vendor that was working with the township, according to the lawsuit.
The payment was approved by two township employees, neither of which were Pennewell, the suit claims. Upon learning that the vendor’s email was hacked five days later, Pennewell alleges she contacted the bank and requested that the payment be reversed, according to the suit.
Pennewell also alleges that Anna Shaker, Pemberton’s human resources manager and JIF Fund Coordinator — the point person for the township’s municipal insurance fund — was with her when she inquired about reversing the payment and that Shaker was in turn responsible for notifying township officials of the erroneous payment.
As a result, any further communication about the incident that township officials found lacking was actually the responsibility of Shaker, Pennewell claims.
The lawsuit also alleges that Pennewell’s termination was illegal because there was no council vote, notice, or public hearing about the decision in violation of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.
But township officials said they stand by their position to terminate Pennewell and intend to fight the claims laid out in the lawsuit.
“The Township’s position is that Ms. Pennewell’s termination was based on legitimate concerns regarding her leadership, performance, and handling of serious financial matters, not the wrongful or retaliatory motives alleged in her lawsuit,” Pemberton Mayor Matt Bianchini wrote in a statement responding to the lawsuit on Oct. 16.
The mayor also disputed Pennewell’s claims related to the waste collection contract, defending the actions of township officials named as defendants in the lawsuit, including himself and Shaker.
Bianchini said the incident represented a significant lapse in leadership.
“I stand behind the decision regarding Ms. Pennewell’s employment and the Township’s position that the decision was based on legitimate employment-related concerns,” Bianchini said.
“The Township intends to vigorously defend itself against the allegations in this lawsuit and present the relevant evidence through the appropriate legal proceedings,” he said.
Shaker declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Pennewell’s legal team, Mullica Hill-based Vigilante Law Firm, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Inquirer South Jersey
