Superintendent Eric Hibbs (second from left in the back row) returned to work on Aug. 4 after a paid leave suspension that began in March.
Township School Superintendent Eric Hibbs was back on the job on Aug. 4 after a Gloucester County Superior Court judge overturned his paid leave suspension.
In a one-page order issued from Woodbury on July 31, Judge Benjamin C. Tesley stated the defendant – the township board of education – violated the Open Public Meetings Act at its March 18 meeting and voided the Doctrine of Necessity, a legal term for the board’s suspension.
Tesley’s order was in response to a lawsuit filed by a resident, Randy Ford, against the board in relation to Hibbs’ suspension. The superintendent was not part of the lawsuit filing in March. Ford’s attorney, Stephen J. Edelstein, said officials were pleased with the ruling, according to reports.
In response to the order, Austin Tobin, an attorney for Hibbs, said in a statement: “… The board should be ashamed of their blatantly retaliatory and unlawful suspension of Dr. Hibbs’ employment.”
Hibbs had filed his own lawsuit – a 62-page whistleblower complaint against the board and its president, Julie Kozempel – on May 28 through his attorneys at McOmber & Luber in Red Bank. As superintendent since May 2023, Hibbs’ alleged he was “unlawfully placed on administrative leave … after he raised objections to the (board’s) conduct that he believed to be both unlawful and unethical” and was “subjected to blatant retaliation” in violation of New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act.
Under Kozempel’s leadership, the district hired Insurance Consulting Service in 2021 to serve as its consultant for employee health benefits. Following multiple OPRA (Open Public Records Act) requests by various community members, Hibbs conducted a review of the hiring process, maintaining it was procedurally flawed.
Rather than appropriately address Hibbs’ concerns, the board allegedly “disregarded said complaints” and instead subjected the superintendent “to a calculated campaign of targeted retaliation,” the complaint stated. It also noted that board member Steven Serrano called on then-board President Ralph Ross to initiate an investigation into Hibbs and hired a personal attorney to observe him without any prior notice or explanation.
In his complaint, Hibbs alleged fabricated conflicts regarding board members Carol Chila and Elayne Clancy that enabled the Doctrine of Necessity – or suspension – to move forward. The ethics commission has since confirmed no conflicts existed, but to date, the board has “failed to take any corrective action,” Hibbs claims.
The board had invoked the doctrine at the March 18 meeting, citing conflicts with five members of the board, including Kozempel. As a result, a quorum was not available to discuss the superintendent of schools and/or take action related to him.
Ford’s lawsuit said the board took the vote by improperly invoking the Doctrine of Necessity. It alleged the board used fake conflicts of interest among members to reach the majority that placed Hibbs on administrative leave.
The board has not discussed publicly why Hibbs was placed on leave, and moves by some board members to reinstate him since his suspension were either denied or not moved forward. Board attorney Ari Schneider, of Busch Law Group LLC, did not provide a response to the lawsuits.
Kozempel would not comment.
