Superintendent Eric Hibbs – shown during the 2024 Washington Township High School graduation – filed a lawsuit against the board of education for his “unlawful” placement on administrative leave in March.
The Washington Township Board of Education placed Superintendent Eric Hibbs on administrative leave with pay on March 18.
On May 28, through his attorney, Armen McOmber, of McOmber & Luber in Red Bank, Hibbs filed a 62-page lawsuit against the board and its president, Julie Kozempel.
Hibbs, who has served as superintendent since May 2023, stated 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.
“At its core this case underscores the essential role of whistleblowers, as (Hibbs’) protected conduct embodies the vital role that whistleblowers play in upholding accountability and ethics in the workplace,” Hibbs complaint noted.
Under Kozempel’s leadership, the district hired Insurance Consulting Service in 2021 to serve as its consultant for employee health benefits. Following multiple Open Public Records Act requests by various community members, Hibbs conducted a review of the hiring process, maintaining that it was procedurally flawed.
Hibbs in turn reported his concerns last year to multiple oversight bodies, including the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability; the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office; and Deputy Attorneys General Michael Grillo and Amandi Nini, according to the complaint.
The superintendent specifically complained about both the board’s decision-making process in the hiring of ICS and the selection itself, noting that the service had submitted the lowest-rated proposal, one he alleges was materially defective.
Rather than appropriately address Hibbs’ concerns, the board allegedly “disregarded said complaints” and instead subjected Hibbs “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.
The concerns raised by Hibbs included, but were not limited to:
- The exclusion of certain board members of the board from discussions related to negotiations with support staff
- Kozempel’s refusal to allow Hibbs to provide personnel recommendations
- False accusations by the board that Hibbs was intentionally sending emails to shift blame onto the board
In response, the defendants began to micromanage and take over key responsibilities Hibbs handled as superintendent and orchestrated the filing of a fraudulent ethics complaint against him, according to the lawsuit.
Hibbs then filed a six-count ethics complaint with the New Jersey School Ethics Commission against Kozempel detailing the retaliation he was facing as a whistleblower. Then, “without providing any explanation as to why, and in a malicious act of further retaliation,” the board invoked the Doctrine of Necessity to place Hibbs on administrative leave.
In his complaint, Hibbs alleged fabricated conflicts regarding board members Carol Chila and Elayne Clancy that enabled the doctrine to move forward. The ethics commission has since confirmed no conflicts existed, but to date, the board has “failed to take any corrective action,” he claims.
As a result, Hibbs has and continues to suffer non-economic damages in the form of humiliation, stress and anxiety that have caused him mental and emotional anguish, the complaint states.
Hibbs is seeking his reinstatement as superintendent, benefits and back pay, as well as anti-retaliation, anti-harassment, workplace civility and bystander intervention training for the defendants.
McOmber said the defendants have 35 days to respond to the complaint. Board attorney Ari Schneider, of Busch Law Group LLC, did not provide a response to the lawsuit.
