Township Employee, Wife Could Sue Mahwah For $40 Million: Report

The Department of Public Works director and his wife plan to seek $40 million for physical and emotional injuries and damage to their reputation, according to a report.

Ed and Jackie Sinclair’s attorney filed notices of claim with the town last week, a legal move that preserves their right to sue, NorthJersey.com reported.

The Sinclairs are seeking $20 million each in compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees, the website reported. Filing a lawsuit so the matter could be presented in court would be the next move.

The potential lawsuit stems from an anonymous letter alleging child pornography was on a discarded computer in the department of public works; the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office examined three computers in the department and returned them, saying the claims were unfounded, the website reported, but “adult sexual images” were recovered on one computer, the website reported.

Mayor William Laforet fired Ed Sinclair in March but the Town Council overturned the firing later that month. Laforet said the council’s decision to reinstate Sinclair was “a slap in the face to the taxpayers of Mahwah” and “a poor message to send to other employees of this town.”

Sinclair returned to work March 30. The council adopted a resolution April 10 saying it would pay $35,000 in legal fees for Sinclair if he agreed not to sue the town for incidents that occurred before March 19, NorthJersey.com reported; the claim notice states it pertains to incidents after March 19.

Dozens of people attended a standing-room only council meeting when the firing was overturned. Jackie Sinclair previously called her husband’s firing “political retaliation and a witch hunt.”

Laforet and Ed Sinclair ran against each other in the 2012 mayoral race. Sinclair’s wife said her husband chose to run a clean campaign and not hurt Laforet’s family — despite being told he should use information that he knew. She said that Laforet did hurt Sinclair’s family.

“That for me is unforgivable,” she said.