Assistant Prosecutor Fired; 'Hostile Work Environment' Alleged

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A top-level member of the Ocean County prosecutor's office was fired on Monday because he created a hostile work environment, the prosecutor's office said Tuesday.

Michel A. Paulhus, the executive assistant prosecutor and career prosecutor, was fired Monday, Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, confirmed Tuesday.

"He was terminated for creating a hostile work environment," Della Fave said. He did not elaborate.

The Asbury Park Press reported Paulhus was escorted from the building on Monday.

A call Tuesday morning to Russell Lichenstein, the attorney representing Paulhus, was not immediately returned. Lichtenstein told the Asbury Park Press he had been retained by Paulhus to represent him in a dispute with "his now former employer."

The attorney told the Asbury Park Press a whistleblower lawsuit is "certainly possible."

Paulhus has been working for the Ocean County prosecutor's office since 1993, according to Datauniverse. His most recent salary on the site is $153,672 and he was enrolled in the Public Employees Retirement System on May 1, 1993.

Joseph A. Coronato was sworn in as Ocean County prosecutor in March 2013 and his term expired earlier this year.

Paulhus was the prosecutor on the case against former Brick Schools Superintendent Walter Uszenski and was accused of withholding exculpatory evidence from a grand jury. Uszenski was accused of helping to set up what authorities said amounted to free day care for his grandson, but Superior Court Judge Patricia B. Roe threw out the charges, ruling prosecutors withheld information showing Uszenski's grandson had a verified special-needs diagnosis. The prosecutor's office sought a new indictment and that case is pending. Uszenski and his daughter, Jacqueline Halsey, who also was indicted, filed lawsuits against the school district and the prosecutor's office after Roe's ruling. That case is pending as well.

This report will be updated as more information becomes available.

Photo by Patricia A. Miller, Patch staff