NewsRoom
Montclair Local – Montclair’s Interim Township Attorney Gets Pay Bump
Joseph A. Garcia l Feb 14, 2025 l Media Coverage
Montclair’s interim township attorney will get an increase in his pay, something he told the Township Council will allow him to provide the required legal services at $175 per hour. The amendment to Joseph A. Garcia’s contract removes a 28 hour per week limit and increases the total contract amount by $10,000 for up to $40,0000, according to the resolution. The council had in…
NJ.com-Transgender girl was called a ‘freak’ while N.J. school did nothing, lawsuit alleges
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Feb 11, 2025 l Media Coverage
The family of a transgender student is suing a Bergen County school board, alleging officials failed to protect her and other LGBTQ+ students from harassment and discrimination. The girl and her parents filed a lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court on Jan. 31 against the Demarest Board of Education, alleging she was subjected to sex and gender-based…
NorthJersey.com – Wayne Officer Terminated for Failed Drug Test. Now he says Township got it Wrong
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Feb 10, 2025 l Media Coverage
Rookie patrolman has been fired for violating a Police Department drug policy, and he is appealing that decision in state court. Eric Lougheed, 25, was terminated on Jan. 22, court records show, after he received a discipline notice that charged him with “testing positive for a prohibited substance.” A subsequent letter to the patrolman from Business Administrator Christopher Tietjen identified the illicit drug as cocaine. He was instructed to return…
NorthJersey.com – Palisades Park Will Again Investigate Possible Vacation, sick time Overpayments
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Nov 22, 2024 l Media Coverage
The borough is launching an investigation into possible overpayment of vacation and sick time to some employees after “red flags” were recently raised. This isn’t the first time. In 2021, a scathing comptroller’s investigation found that officials were improperly paying employees for unused sick time. After the state comptroller found hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were wasted, the mayor and Borough Council made changes, including…
NorthJersey.com – NJ Districts Defend Policies State says Would ‘Out’ Transgender Students to Parents
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Nov 20, 2024 l Media Coverage
Lawyers for four school districts argued before a state appeals court panel Tuesday that new district policies requiring school officials to inform parents of transgender students who out themselves in school do not violate the state’s Law Against Discrimination, as Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office says they do. A panel of three judges listened to arguments from…
Partner Arsen Zartarian’s Article Featured in New Jersey Lawyer Magazine
Arsen Zartarian l Oct 14, 2024 l Media Coverage
Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs partner Arsen Zartarian’s article “Developments in Applications to Suspend Teaching Certificates for Failure to Provide Required Notice – Recent Laws, Courts Decisions, Staffing and Societal Challenges Impact Standards” was featured in the October 2024 edition of New Jersey Lawyer magazine…
Partners Joe DeMarco & Steven Kleinman Named to Insider NJ’s 2024 Insider 100 Legal Power List
Joe DeMarco, Steven Kleinman l Jul 9, 2024 l Media Coverage
Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs partners Joe DeMarco and Steven Kleinman have been named to the 2024 Insider 100 Legal Power List by Insider New Jersey. The list is a compilation of the state’s top attorneys, “whose worlds include New Jersey’s political universe.”
Daily Record -Mountain Lakes, Boonton Township in legal battle over high school tuition hike
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Jan 3, 2024 l Media Coverage
The Boonton Township Board of Education represented by Matthew Giacobbe is encouraging residents to attend Thursday night’s school board meeting in neighboring Mountain Lakes to voice objections to a proposed 7.25% tuition…
Partner Ruby Kumar-Thompson Prevails in School District of the Chathams Establishment Clause Lawsuit
Ruby Kumar-Thompson l Oct 26, 2023 l News
After appearing on Tucker Carlson and at a school board meeting in 2017 to object to instruction…
NorthJersey.com – Partner Mary Anne Groh Prevails in $25 Million Paterson Garbage Hauling Lawsuit
Mary Anne Groh l Oct 23, 2023 l News
A judge last week ruled in Paterson’s favor in a legal battle over the city’s decision to award a $25 million garbage collection contract to a new…
Patch – Policy to Regulate Bernards Board Members Use of Email, Social Media
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Oct 6, 2023 l Media Coverage
A policy regulating Bernards Township Board of Education(BOE) members’ use of email and social media was discussed and more changes are being proposed by the Board Attorney, Matthew Giacobbe…
New Jersey Monitor – Court Battle Heats up over Hanover Policies on Parental Notification, Transgender Rights
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Sep 29, 2023 l Media Coverage
After the state sued Hanover Township schools in May to stop a new policy…
NJ.com – 3 N.J. School Districts Could become 1 under merger plan
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Sep 25, 2023 l Media Coverage
Voters in Monmouth County will decide this week whether to merge three school districts into one. The grades K-6 school districts in Highlands, and Atlantic Highlands who is represented by Matthew Giacobbe would join the grades 7-12 Henry Hudson Regional School District, which already…
NJ Spotlight News – Mixed Response as Hanover School Board scraps policy protecting transgender students
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Sep 14, 2023 l Media Coverage
The Hanover Board of Education voted to repeal a policy that includes protections for transgender students. The vote at an emergency…
NJ Spotlight News – Judge to rule on revised parental notification policy
Matthew J. Giacobbe l Sep 6, 2023 l Media Coverage
A Morris County judge will rule on whether he will allow a revised parental notification policy to take effect in Hanover. The reworked policy by Hanover’s school board does not single out LGBTQ students, but it does let school staff consider a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity (among other reasons) to notify parents…
northjersey.com – Judge questions Hanover’s parental rights policy as district, state face off in court
Matthew J. Giacobbe I Sep 6, 2023 I Media Coverage
The state Attorney General’s Office and a Morris County school board remained at odds Wednesday over a controversial policy that critics say would violate the privacy of LGBTQ+ students, with a judge expressing…
northjersey.com – ‘I Didn’t Feel Protected At All’: Students Worry About Bill to Police Anti-Israel Speech
Matthew J. Giacobbe I Jul 13, 2023 I Media Coverage
When Anna Ben-Hur was a college junior, controversy gripped her campus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when a handful of pro-Israel organizations tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel a panel about free speech and Palestinian rights. The organizations, one of which sued…