PETERSBURG — A judge has dismissed a civil complaint filed by former Upper Township administrator Gary DeMarzo against two Township Committee members.
Judge James Pickering Jr. ruled May 16 that a complaint filed against Committeeman Zach Palombo and Committeeman Sam Palombo was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back before the court. DeMarzo will have to pay the defendants’ legal fees. Pickering ordered counsel to submit fees and costs.
“We believed this lawsuit was frivolous from the start, and the judge agreed with us. We are happy to put this episode behind us and move on to doing good things for the people of Upper Township,” the Palombos said in a joint statement.
DeMarzo, 57, filed the complaint Dec. 30, 2024, claiming the Palombos and township activist Barbara Murphy-Leary made defamatory remarks about him through the Palombos’ campaign fliers and Murphy-Leary’s Facebook page, “Politics and Promises in Upper Township and Cape May County.”
It claimed DeMarzo suffered “annoyance, inconvenience, stress, anxiety, humiliation, depression, physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and pecuniary loss,” and sought compensatory and punitive damages, interest and legal fees.
A judge dismissed charges against Murphy-Leary in April. Judgment was also entered requiring DeMarzo to pay $6,408.39 in attorney fees and costs incurred by Leary in obtaining the dismissal.
Township Committee terminated DeMarzo’s employment as administrator and acted to remove him from his civil service position of personnel officer Jan. 27.
DeMarzo could not be immediately removed as personnel officer but the committee also hired the law firm of Blaney, Donohue & Weinberg to “formulate a layoff plan for the position of personnel officer for purposes of economy and efficiency.”
His employment was divided into 70 percent personnel officer and 30 percent business administrator with a total compensation of $121,000. On March 10, Township Committee voted to terminate DeMarzo as personnel officer.
Solicitor John Amenhauser said the township received a letter dated March 3 stating that the New Jersey Civil Service Commission had approved a layoff plan that included elimination of the personnel officer. The termination started a 45-day period of continued employment in which DeMarzo’s “attendance will no longer be required,” according to Amenhauser, who added DeMarzo would work remotely on an as-needed basis.
DeMarzo, who had received a Rice Notice notifying him that his employment would be discussed, provided members of the media with a second complaint he filed against Zach Palombo and Sam Palombo individually and as members of Township Committee.
The new complaint alleges that the Palombos wrongly voted to terminate DeMarzo and that their “votes were tainted by personal dislike and animosity towards plaintiff which was clear from the false, defamatory and false light statements.”
That matter is still pending.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff