Manalapan Township Committee Approves Settlement with Former Police Chief Stuart Brown

During the Manalapan Township Committee meeting on Wednesday March 23, 2011, the Township Committee finalized a settlement with former Manalapan Police Chief Stuart Brown in the matter Brown vs. Manalapan Township. Brown will receive a $15,000 payment from the township’s insurer, Garden State Joint Insurance Fund.

The lawsuit was a age discrimination complaint which was filed in August 2009. Brown, who was chief from Dec. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2010, was 48 years old when he filed the complaint.

In December, Lucas announced that the township was negotiating a settlement with Brown. At that time, Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin advised Lucas not to disclose details until all parties had agreed to a settlement.  

“So now we are authorizing the agreement to be finalized,” said Lucas at Wednesday’s meeting. Lucas said that Garden State JIF will provide the payment and also advised the township that going to court would be too costly.

Township Attorney Roger McLaughlin verified Lucas’ description of the settlement.

“For any members of the public that would like to see a copy of that, that would now be ready to be made public,” said Lucas; however, he did not indicate where or how the document can be accessed.

The agreement states that the settlement is "a compromise of disputed claims and is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by any party”, reported the Asbury Park Press.

Brown retired on Dec. 31 2010 and was replaced by acting Chief Lou Moreto.

"He's had an amazing career," Committeeman Ryan Green about Brown in a December interview with Patch. "He's leaving on a high note."

The warm sentiment might not be shared across the board.

Brown is still waging a separate defamation law suit against Roth in Superior Court; Roth abstained from Wednesday’s vote to approve his settlement with the township. The other committee members approved the resolution without further comment.

Here's a condensed history of this dispute which began over two years ago:

In September 2008, Chief Brown and representatives from the police department’s unions met with Committeewoman Roth, Township Administrator Tara Lovrich, and former Committeewoman Susan Cohen. Roth claims that at this meeting, Brown was insubordinate and verbally abused her.

Roth made her account of this episode very public in a prepared statement during a Township Committee meeting on Sept. 9, 2009. A videotape of that statement was posted on YouTube by the user “manalapantaxpayer” and may be viewed by clicking here.

“Sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and abuse of power by Manalapan Township Chief of Police Stuart Brown are a big problem,” said Roth. "Bringing this problem public creates a safer working environment for all the women of town hall and protects our residents and our township….

“It is this governing body’s responsibility to make sure that the despicable behavior stops and that no other woman becomes a victim of Chief Brown’s rage,” she said.

Roth announced that the Township’s Labor Attorney, Roger McLaughlin, had been investigating the Chief’s conduct.

According to the News Transcript, former Committeewoman Susan Cohen refuted Roth’s account two weeks later on September 23, 2009.

“As the president of the domestic violence crisis team in Manalapan, I have a zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. There were no threats or abuse by Chief Brown against anyone on that day. It was just childish behavior by both parties," Cohen said.

On Aug. 6, 2009, a hearing officer had recommended a one-day suspension of Brown. Days later, Brown filed a law against age discrimination complaint against the township, Committeewoman Michelle Roth, and Township Administrator Tara Lovrich.

The complaint, written by Brown's attorney and former Manalapan mayor Stuart Moskovitz stated: “Manalapan, principally through Roth and Lovrich, embarked on a prolonged and continual pattern of harassment of Chief Brown.”  Brown believed that Roth and Lovrich had purposely created a hostile working environment in an effort to force his retirement.

Brown also appealed the hearing officer's recommendation to a Superior Court judge who ruled that the Manalapan Township Committee should decide whether or not to suspend the chief.

On August 12, 2009, Deputy Mayor Don Holland and Mayor Richard Klauber voted in favor of the hearing officer’s recommendation and suspended Brown for one day without pay.

"If the chief wants to end this he can do it in a heartbeat," Holland said. "If he wants to prove something, he's entitled to his day in court."

Following the vote, McLaughlin called Brown’s litigation “frivolous”.

Committeeman Andrew Lucas chose to abstain from the vote, citing he lacked time to collect sufficient information. Meanwhile, McLaughlin had advised Cohen and Roth to not participate in the vote and asked them to physically step down from the dais during the vote.

Two videos of that discussion from August 12, 2009 vote are also available on YouTube: Part 1 and Part 2.

According to the News Transcript, Brown would appeal his one day suspension through a different attorney, Lawrence Bitterman. Ultimately, he agreed to negotiate that matter with the township outside of court.  

In April 2010, the News Transcript reported that Moskovitz filed a separate defamation complaint on behalf of his client against Roth based on her statements at the September 9, 2009. This complaint came six months after notifying the township and Roth that he would sue the committeewoman for defamation; the six-month waiting period is mandated by the N.J. Tort Claims Act.

Brown vs. Roth is ongoing, and the township is paying for Roth’s legal defense. McLaughlin has confirmed to the News Transcript that the matter will be handled by the insurer.

Resident Gloria Close has expressed her disagreement over this issue in the past and on Wednesday, she took the floor again during public comment.  

“I request this Council that the taxpayers should not be burdened by the legal expenses since there was a malicious intent on the part of the council member,” said Close.  

Close argued that Roth had a well-prepared statement that went on for several minutes; it was not spontaneous. Moreover, Close argues, the allegations against Brown were never fully proven.

No committee member responded directly to Close’s remark about the legal expenses or Roth’s intentions.

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