The city of Hoboken will pay its former public safety director a $700,000 settlement, ending a four-year court battle over his alleged wrongful termination. On Feb. 3, the City Council approved the legal settlement with Angel Alicea. The vote was unanimous, with council members Beth Mason and Tim Occhipinti absent.
After allegedly being forced to resign in 2011, Alicea filed suit against the city and Mayor Dawn Zimmer, claiming that he had been discriminated against due to his Hispanic ethnicity and whistle-blowing about alleged improprieties in the Hoboken Police Department. Zimmer contended that she asked Alicea to leave after he failed to tell the truth about having met with an informant involved in a government sting during a failed City Council campaign in 2009.
As public safety director, Alicea earned $27,000 per year to oversee the fire and police departments on a part-time basis. Following his resignation, former Jersey City police officer Jon Tooke was given the job on a full-time basis with an annual salary of $110,000.
In December 2013, an eight-member jury in Hudson County Superior Court awarded Alicea $440,000 in back pay, finding the city guilty of discrimination but Zimmer innocent of any wrongdoing. Alicea agreed to forego his further claim of damages for an undisclosed settlement, but the City Council rejected the deal, allowing deliberations to continue.
“My client has achieved his goal of clearing his name, and any additional money is mere icing on the cake.” – Louis Zayas
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Ten months later, the parties agreed to a flat settlement of $700,000, including court costs and fees, according to settlement documents obtained via an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. The payout settles two separate appeals of Alicea’s lawsuit pending before the New Jersey Superior Court.
The settlement was reached before appeals had come before a judge for consideration.
City freed of liability
The settlement allows both parties to move on from a lengthy and costly litigation.
In exchange for the payout, Alicea agreed to withdraw all of his claims against Zimmer and the city. That includes a defamation charge against Zimmer added by Alicea after Zimmer released a statement to the press in January 2014 alleging that Alicea had been “offered illegal cash contributions” by FBI informant Solomon Dwek during Operation Bid Rig III. Alicea was never officially named or indicted in the federal sting, and was one of a number of politicians and candidates who met with Dwek without any proof of wrongdoing.
As another condition of the settlement, Zimmer and the city of Hoboken did not admit to any liability or wrongdoing relating to Alicea’s civil complaint.
Alicea’s lawyer, Louis Zayas, said two weeks ago that the parties decided to resolve the case on mutually agreeable terms after a long period of time.
“My client has achieved his goal of clearing his name, and any additional money is mere icing on the cake,” said Zayas.
Zayas’ tone was markedly subdued compared to past comments to the press about the Alicea case, in which he called the city’s treatment of his client “despicable.” As part of the settlement, Alicea agreed to make no statements “which would reasonably be expected to disparage” the city of Hoboken or Zimmer.
In addition, both sides agreed not to discuss the terms of the settlement, including its monetary value.
Zimmer declined to comment on the Alicea case.
Not the first wrongful termination settlement
Zimmer’s administration has been hit with a number of wrongful termination suits over the years. Last August, Hoboken paid a settlement to its former Environmental Services Director, Jennifer Maier, to settle a lawsuit over her alleged wrongful termination in 2011.
Maier alleged that she had been fired after Zimmer learned of comments Maier made in support of Alicea’s plans to sue the city over his own termination. The comments were made at a private dinner.
City representatives declined to comment on the amount given to Maier last August, and a number of OPRA requests seeking the information have been denied, including one submitted two weeks ago. The City Clerk’s office denied the most recent request this past Thursday, stating that it had “no responsive records.”
Healey holds city accountable
At its Feb. 3 meeting, the City Council also approved a settlement with Leah Healey, the wife of Councilman-at-Large James Doyle, over a lawsuit regarding zoning approvals on her neighbor’s property.
The legal issue arose from renovations made to a two-story residential building at 258 Eighth St., kitty-corner to Doyle and Healey’s Park Avenue brownstone. In a complaint before Hudson County Superior Court, Healey argued that the project violated local zoning rules for height and lot coverage and encroached on her property line. She argued that the changes should have received approval from the Zoning Board.
While Healey’s civil suit is mainly focused on the resident who undertook the renovations, she also named as liable parties the city officials who issued the property owner a certificate of zoning compliance and a construction permit.
Doyle recused himself from the Feb. 3 closed session council meeting with Healey’s lawyer Ronald Cucchiaro and left the room when his colleagues voted to approve the settlement. The vote was otherwise unanimous, with council members Mason and Occhipinti absent.
The monetary value of Healey’s settlement was not disclosed at the meeting. An OPRA request filed by The Hoboken Reporter did not receive a response by press time.
Other business
Also at the Feb. 3 City Council meeting, Frank De Grim was named to a one-year term as an alternate member of the Hoboken Zoning Board of Adjustment, filling the last remaining vacancy on the panel. The lawyer, civil engineer, and Hoboken resident was nominated by Councilmen Tim Occhipinti and Michael Russo and approved by a vote of 8 to1.
Councilman David Mello was the only no vote, explaining that he could not support a Zoning Board candidate with whom he had never spoken.
“I want to thank Mr. De Grim for reaching out to me and having a really lengthy conversation about zoning in the city of Hoboken and getting his feedback on some of the issues I feel strongly about,” said Occhipinti.
“When I saw Mr. De Grim’s resume, I was impressed by it,” concurred Russo.
“[De Grim] understands that being the fourth alternate is really a year of learning,” said Councilman Peter Cunningham, “and I think he’s going to have a lot to learn, but he is up for the task.”
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.