Commercial Township sues former mayor. Claims he violated Memorandum of Understanding that resolved four harassment complaints against him..

On Monday, June 26, 2017, at 9 a.m., Cumberland County Assignment Judge Georgia M. Curio will hear argument on whether or not a temporary injunction should issue that would prevent former Commercial Township Mayor Judson Moore from violating a Memorandum of Understanding (MUA) that he entered into with the Township on May 16, 2016.  In the underlying March 29, 2017 lawsuit filed by Commercial Township Solicitor Thomas E. Seeley, the Township alleged that Moore had intentionally breached the MUA by running for public office in the Township and for causing the distribution of a letter that named the four employees who had filed harassment complaints against him. 

While the MUA expressly states that “Moore shall not seek a public office in the Township of Commercial, County of Cumberland, State of New Jersey hereinafter,” it does not explicitly prevent Moore from publicly disclosing the identities of the four employees who had brought complaints against him.  Rather, the lawsuit states that “[t]he ‘good faith’ spirit of the agreement was to keep the victims of the harassment anonymous” and refers to a September 1, 2016 decision in Libertarians For Transparent Government v. Commercial Township, et al, Docket No. CUM-L-402-16 where Judge Curio “indicated on the record that she wanted to protect the disclosure of these employees’ names.”

The lawsuit does not identify the public office for which Moore allegedly filed a petition.  But, the context suggests that it was for a commissioner’s seat on one of the three fire districts in the Township.  The suit alleges that Moore attended a Fire District meeting where he publicly stated that the MUA “does not hold water” and that “he, Judson Moore, can hold any position in the township that he wanted in complete defiance of his earlier signed agreement.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Moore rejected the Township’s attempt to use mediation to resolve the conflict thus requiring the litigation.  The suit asks Curio to, among other things, enjoin Moore from violating the anonymity of the harassment complainants and to pay the court costs and attorney fees incurred as a result of the lawsuit.  Moore has until May 26, 2017 to file and serve his opposition.