PASCACK VALLEY—A Park Ridge resident has filed a complaint in Bergen County Superior Court alleging the Borough of Montvale and Mayor Mike Ghassali violated his First Amendment rights by blocking him from posting comments on a Facebook page that he claims functions as an official government forum.
Howard Fredrics of Park Ridge filed the complaint March 3. He also filed for injunctive relief seeking to be immediately allowed to post again on the mayor’s Facebook page, along with a show-cause complaint. Attorneys told Pascack Press that a ruling on whether to restore Fredrics’ access could come within the next week while the case proceeds.
In the complaint, Fredrics’ attorney Kathleen Redpath-Perez states that Fredrics is seeking declaratory relief, restoration of access to the Facebook page, compensatory damages including emotional distress damages, punitive damages against Ghassali in his individual capacity, attorneys’ fees and court costs, and other relief the court considers equitable.
At issue is whether the Facebook page Fredrics was blocked from is actually a government page or a personal page belonging to the mayor.
Mayor Michael Ghassali has maintained that the page — which features his mayoral photo and title emblazoned on an American flag — is his personal page used only “to share and post information.”
When contacted March 10, Ghassali told Pascack Press, “I haven’t been served yet and I haven’t seen anything official from the courts delivered to me. I am not going to comment until I am served at some point.”
If the court determines the page is personal, the mayor would have the right to block users. However, if the court finds the page functions as a government forum, Ghassali and the borough could be required to restore Fredrics’ access and allow him to post comments.
Legal precedent cited
Fredrics’ lawsuit relies heavily on a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Lindke v. Freed, which defined when a public official’s social media activity may be considered government action.
“In Lindke v. Freed, 601 U.S. 187 (2024), the United States Supreme Court clarified that a public official’s social media activity constitutes state action only if two requirements are satisfied: (1) the official possessed actual authority to speak on the government’s behalf, and (2) the official purported to exercise that authority in the challenged conduct,” the complaint states.
Fredrics’ complaint argues those conditions apply in Montvale. It states that Ghassali, as the borough’s sitting mayor, had authority to speak on behalf of the municipality and that the “Mayor Mike Ghassali” page displayed the mayor’s official borough email address and linked directly to the borough’s website.
The complaint also alleges that Ghassali was acting under color of law and as a final policymaker for the borough with respect to official communications disseminated through the page, including decisions regarding moderation, removal of comments and access.
Case still awaiting service
Based on New Jersey eCourt filings as of March 9, it did not appear that Ghassali or the borough had yet been served with Fredrics’ complaint.
Local sources told Pascack Press the matter had been referred to the borough’s insurance carrier for review. A decision on whether the carrier — the Bergen County Joint Insurance Fund — will provide legal counsel for Ghassali’s defense is expected soon.
Dispute over blocked comments
Fredrics alleges that Ghassali blocked him after he posted objections to several topics raised by the mayor.
Among them were Ghassali’s declaration of a no-fly zone for drones over Montvale — which generated national press coverage — and a decision to raise the borough’s U.S. flag to full staff for President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration during a 30-day mourning period for former President Jimmy Carter, when flags traditionally fly at half-staff.
Fredrics also questioned immigration-related data posted by the mayor, according to the complaint.
Fredrics told Pascack Press that blocking him because of his comments violated his constitutional rights.
“Last year, Mayor Mike Ghassali blocked me on his official ‘Mayor Mike Ghassali’ government Facebook page on the basis of the content of my comments on several of his posts, with which he apparently disagreed,” Fredrics said.
“His actions in blocking me constitute a breach of my free speech rights under the U.S. and N.J. Constitutions, and the New Jersey Civil Rights Act.”
He added: “When the government begins to restrict free speech, so that dissenting voices are effectively cancelled, we abandon the quest for truth that the First Amendment enables and encourages.”
Borough response
Fredrics said he was able to comment on the mayor’s Facebook page for about four months before allegedly being blocked in March 2025.
The complaint says Fredrics discovered on March 12, 2025 that he had been blocked. After contacting borough officials, he said the borough administrator told him the page was Ghassali’s personal page and not controlled by the borough.
Fredrics later hired attorney Ron Kuby to send a letter asserting his constitutional rights had been violated.
In a March 25, 2025 response, borough attorney David Lafferty wrote that Fredrics’ comments were “both false and argumentative and were taken down for those reasons.”
Lafferty also wrote that the “Mayor Mike Ghassali” page is a personal political social media page used by Ghassali “in furtherance of his political candidacies, causes and goals” and is not maintained by the borough.
“The borough of Montvale maintains its own Facebook page, ‘Borough of Montvale, New Jersey,’ which expressly states that it is the ‘Official Facebook Page of the Borough of Montvale, New Jersey.’ That is the social media platform that the borough uses to disseminate official messages and information to its residents,” Lafferty wrote.
He added that the mayor’s page does not even identify the name of the municipality and contains content both related and unrelated to Montvale.
The page also states, “This is my personal page to share information,” Lafferty wrote.
When Pascack Press recently viewed the page at facebook.com/MayorGhassali, it displayed the Montvale borough emblem on a U.S. flag.
Two Facebook pages cited
Fredrics’ complaint notes that two Facebook pages exist for Ghassali — one using his name only and another using his mayoral title.
According to the complaint, the “Mayor Mike Ghassali” page was originally classified by Facebook as a “Government Official” page before later being changed to a “Public Service” page. It also lists the mayor’s borough email address and links to the borough website.
Fredrics argues that the page regularly disseminates municipal information, including updates on public safety, weather conditions, affordable housing litigation and borough governance, indicating that the mayor was acting in an official capacity.
“Everyone, myself included, has the right as citizens to seek redress from the government for their grievances,” Fredrics said.
“Once we lose the ability to express ourselves freely in public, we lose that vital ability to seek redress.”