ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—A Superior Court judge ordered Englewood Sept. 27 to file answers to an amended complaint alleging wrongful termination filed by nine of 15 firefighters “within 10 days” at a case conference which also set a September 2020 trial date for the lawsuit.
Englewood hired and then fired 15 firefighters this year—hiring them conditionally in January and firing them in early April—citing an unapproved city budget. The firings came following the firefighters being invited in early April for uniform and gear fittings, and a firehouse tour.
Firings’ ‘inconvenience’
Later that same week in April, a letter from the former city manager said the 15 firefighters would not be able to attend the Fire Academy planned for the following Monday due to an unapproved city budget and apologized for any “inconvenience.”
In mid-May, nine of 15 firefighters filed a lawsuit against the city, following a contentious May 21 City Council meeting where the council voted to suspend former City Manager Ed Hynes allegedly for his role in the firings.
Moreover, the council also approved a highly controversial residency preference ordinance that night, effectively excluding the 15 terminated firefighter candidates all non-residents, mostly white and Hispanic, from re-applying for firefighter positions. The ordinance requires all candidates for jobs with the fire and police departments to be residents for a certain period of time.
Several terminated firefighters made emotional, heart-wrought appeals May 21 to regain their city firefighter jobs, with one charging the terminations were wrong, short-sighted, risking resident lives and racially motivated—charges all laid out in the firefighters’ lawsuit.
Firefighters’ attorney Michael Prigoff said then that the residency preference ordinance was illegal for statutory reasons, which the council and city attorney refused to address, he claimed.
City replies ‘strain credulity’
On Sept. 27, Superior Court Judge Christine Farrington heard two attorneys for Englewood and two attorneys representing 10 terminated firefighters argue about alleged delays in responding to the lawsuit filed May 22.
In addition, she heard charges by Prigoff that the city’s initial response citing “no information or knowledge of” to dozens of questions—filed Aug. 12 or nearly three months after Prigoff’s initial complaint—“strains credulity” and was intentionally done to delay the case.
Prigoff’s lawsuit is now joined by a 10th firefighter, William Dougherty, who is represented by co-counsel Corey Sargeant, of Locke, Correia & Buckley, Hackensack.
Farrington ordered the city to respond within 60 days, or Nov. 30, to all “discovery” motions from Prigoff and make sure all depositions, or interviews with individuals cited in the lawsuit, were completed by March 2, 2020.
Sept. 2020 trial date
Both Prigoff and city attorney Levi Kool said they would likely present “economic experts” to argue the economic impacts of the city’s actions to terminate the firefighters.
Based on attorneys’ timetables, and likely experts’ reports and legal responses, Farrington set a tentative Sept. 17, 2020 trial date for the firefighters’ lawsuit.
The firefighters allege that the city committed a breach of contract, breach of conditional employment offers, racial discrimination, and “wrongful termination” by not providing proper notice or “just cause” to terminate them.
They believe they did not violate any conditions of employment as outlined in the city’s offer of employment, and that an unapproved budget is not “just cause” for termination.
Possible resolution?
To expedite matters and seek possible resolution of the lawsuit, all parties agreed to a follow-up conference within a couple weeks “to streamline the process,” said Kool. No date to meet was set by press time, although attorneys on both sides expressed interest in holding the meeting.
Prigoff said he believed the Sept. 27 case conference might serve as an opportunity to clarify and possibly resolve outstanding legal issues or settle the matter but that did not occur.
$607K grant to hire firefighters
Also looming large over the firefighters’ litigation against Englewood is an over $600,000 federal grant that the city secured to hire four firefighters—with assistance from U.S. Rep. William Pascrell and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez via the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s SAFER program, a nationwide grant program to provide funding to bolster hiring of firefighting personnel and resources.
No mention of the grant occurred at the Sept. 27 case conference. In addition, council members were mum on hiring grant-funded firefighters at a Sept. 17 City Council meeting with only a few members noting the receipt of a $607,658.00 grant to hire additional firefighters.
Following the meeting, Council President Katharine Glynn said she awaited more information on grant specifics from interim Borough Administrator Jewel Thompson-Chin before commenting.
A letter from Pascrell supporting the grant application in April said the fire department planned to hire 11 of 15 firefighters this year due to retirements.
Former City Manager Hynes previously noted the planned hiring of 11 firefighters in an early 2019 budget document online. These 11 firefighters would be supplemented by hiring four grant-funded firefighters, noted Pascrell in his letter of support for the SAFER grant application.
Use it or lose it?
Between now and mid-March 2020, approximately 180 days, Englewood needs to hire four new grant-funded firefighters or risk losing over $600,000 in federal funding.
Whether and how that happens may be decided by attorneys involved in the firefighters’ litigation, and whether an early settlement occurs in the lawsuit.
It was unclear whether the city may hire firefighters based on the existing 2016 firefighters’ exam list or decide to hold a new exam.
But due to grant deadlines, it appears the 2016 list will be used, according to people familiar with city operations, with a new residency preference providing residents first crack at the positions.
“In order to maximize the available federal share of funds, (fire) departments should take the necessary steps to ensure all SAFER-funded positions are hired within the 180-day recruitment period,” according to grant guidelines posted on the agency’s website.
An official letter awarding the SAFER grant funds was sent to Fire Chief Erik Enersen on Sept. 13. It allows him 30 days to “either accept or decline the award.”
Efforts to determine if and when Enersen legally accepted the award were not returned by press time.