Stuart Platt, a lawyer who previously worked for Franklin Township in Gloucester County, N.J., recently filed a lawsuit against the township for allegedly terminating his employment because he is Jewish, NJ.com reported on Tuesday.
The lawsuit, which was filed in state Superior Court earlier in September, alleges that the Gloucester County municipality, located in the New York metropolitan area, terminated him from his contract as township solicitor in 2019 in a 3-2 vote, citing “incompatibility.” He was not given another reason for his termination.
Platt then learned in January from attorney and former member of the township committee, Nancy Kennedy, that, in 2017, Tim Doyle, then a “prominent Republican donor” who now serves as the township’s deputy mayor, was promised “that Jew” and “Stew the Jew” would no longer be solicitor for the township, according to NJ.com.
The suit states that Kennedy also reportedly heard John Bruno, who currently serves as mayor, and David Deegan, a former committee member, make antisemitic remarks regarding Platt beginning in 2017.
Kennedy added that, in February 2020, she heard Doyle, who had then joined the township committee, reference Platt in a remark to Deegan, stating “at least the Jew was a good lawyer,” according to the suit.
The suit accuses Franklin Township, Doyle, Bruno and Deegan of violating New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.
Matthew Finley, an administrator for the township, stated that “Franklin Township and the named current and former officials are not going to make any statements concerning the allegations as alleged in the lawsuit.”
