School Board Defends Decision To Put Union County Superintendent On Leave After Crash In Bar Parking Lot

PLAINFIELD, NJ — School leaders are speaking out on their decision to put the superintendent in Plainfield on leave just hours after he said all legal matters were cleared in connection to an alleged hit-and-run crash.

Rashon Hasan was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave in a meeting on Jan. 20 by the Plainfield Board of Education. This came after a report that he was driving a school district vehicle and hit a car in a bar parking lot without sticking around long enough for police to arrive.

"I want to put in a hit-and-run," a person told emergency dispatch in a 9-1-1 call obtained by Patch. "The bar has the video of him hitting me...but they can't release the information until the cops get here."

The Woodbridge Municipal Court has confirmed to Patch that all legal claims have been dismissed.

"It is important for the community to understand that this situation involves both legal considerations and personnel matters...the Board of Education's sole employee under New Jersey law," the Board said on Tuesday.

They say their decision was based on "consultation with legal counsel," and that the leave is not a suspension, nor is it a disciplinary action.

"It is an administrative step commonly used in matters of this nature to allow a proper review process to occur while ensuring stability and the continued operations of the district," the Board's statement detailed.

Elizabeth Filippatos, former Chief of Staff to the superintendent, was appointed as acting superintendent, just hours after the statement from Hasan on the district's social media page where he proclaimed his innocence.

In the post, Hasan also said a story published by another local news outlet depicted his actions erroneously.

As reported by TAPinto Plainfield, Hasan was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident, with the news outlet also adding details of the alleged events that happened that night.

He claims that he followed all proper protocol after hitting the side of another car at Big Shots Restaurant and Lounge on Dec. 13, 2025.

"I am aware of the recent TAPinto Plainfield article regarding an incident involving a district-owned vehicle, and I want to clarify the facts and address several misleading impressions," said Hassan.

Police accounts, and surveillance body camera footage allegedly showed Hasan sticking around to talk to an employee, but leaving before police arrived after he sideswiped a car.

Officers then identified Hasan through security footage and the bar's identification scanner, and learned he was driving a 2024 Ford Expedition that was owned by the Plainfield Board of Education.

According to an officer with the Woodbridge Police Department, he called Hasan, who then told the officer that a different car was parked next to him from when he first arrived, and he thought he could make a turn out of the spot.

Hassan said he took photos of the damage and asked security to make an announcement to have the owner of the car come outside. He said he also provided the on-site officer with his contact information and where he worked before he "could not wait any longer" and left.

"I immediately reported the incident through the appropriate internal channel by notifying the District's Transportation Coordinator," he added in his statement.

Hasan, allegedly, never notified Plainfield Public Schools or the Board of Education of what happened, and the district learned of the situation from another employee days later.

"His account of the events conflicts with the account in both the police report and witnesses in the body camera videos," TAPinto said in response to his statement. The outlet also went on to point out that he "did not address why he neglected to call police."

The district had said Hasan clarified the facts and "reaffirmed his commitment to transparency, accountability, and adherence to Board policy," in the hours before he was placed on leave.

"We respectfully ask the community to allow the process to move forward fairly, legally, and without assumptions that may cause unnecessary harm to any individual or the district," the Board added in closing out its statement Tuesday.

Hasan began his role as superintendent in 2022.

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