Wayne Gadfly Awarded $75,000 Settlement In Lawsuit Against Township And University

A former state Assembly candidate and township gadfly has been awarded a $75,000 settlement in a lawsuit regarding the township and William Paterson University refusing to broadcast an episode of his cable access show.

William J. Brennan will receive $50,000 from the New Jersey Intergovernmental Insurance Fund (NJIIF) and $25,000 from William Paterson University because an episode of “New Jersey Civic Circus” was not aired in 2011. Brennan produced and appeared on the program.

The NJIIF is public insurance pool that provides municipalities lines of coverage for general liability, employment practice, and criminal claims made against them.

Brennan filed the lawsuit in October 2011 while running as a candidate against incumbent Assemblyman and former Wayne Mayor Scott Rumana. He filed the lawsuit against the university, the township, university employees Brian Gorski and Sandra Miller, and 10 other anonymous individuals.

According to the lawsuit, the university refused to air the program because it contained profanity, a telephone number, and violated “general rules of conduct.”

A university engineer told Brennan in an email that mentioning a phone number on air would be unacceptable because it would be “a security concern.”

A township ordinance prohibited political candidates from producing a program that airs on municipal cable services. The Township Council adopted the ordinance in 1994, but changed it in June 2013 to allow candidates to appear on such programs.

Donald F. Burke’s, Brennan’s counsel, confirmed the terms of the settlement, but refused to comment further. Brennan could not be immediately reached for comment.