Curley’s Lawsuit Against Monmouth County Dismissed
Arnone Calls For Curley to Resign
Disgraced Freeholder John Curley’s lawsuit to supress hi Censure and Reprimanded for sexual harassment was dismissed
U.S. District Court Judge Brian R. Martinotti dismissed all 12 counts of disgraced Freeholder John P. Curley’s lawsuit against Monmouth County today, ruling that Curley failed to make a legal claim.
Curley sued Monmouth County, his fellow freeholders, County Counsel Michael Fitzgerald and County Administrator Teri O’Connor last December, claiming that the investigation employee sexual harassment complaints against him and his subsequent censure by the Freeholder Board violated his Constitutional rights to free speech, due process, and property rights to his elected office. Judge Martinotti ruled that the defendants did not violate Curley’s Constitutional rights, and that he does not own his office. Judge Martinotti further ruled that Curley’s claim of reputational damage which would negatively impact his chance to be reelected is without merit.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone immediately called upon Curley to resign.
“Today’s decision by the Federal Court was a repudiation of Curley’s claims, all 12 counts were dismissed. Suing the county is a tactic Curley turned to when trying to justify his offensive language and abusive behavior,” Arnone said in a written statement.
“We regret that we had to use precious taxpayers’ dollars to defend standing up for our employees and values,” Arnone continued. “Now that the Court dismissed Curley’s lawsuit, the Freeholder Board calls on him to do the right thing for our employees and our constituents and publicly apologize and resign.”
Judge Martinotti held Monmouth County in contempt for releasing or paraphrasing parts of the investigative report into Curley’s behavior, which he ruled was a violation of the Consent Order agreed to by the parties. Judge Martinotti said that Curley should be compensated for his legal fees as a sanction for the contempt.
Monmouth County officials declined to say of they intended to appeal the contempt ruling.
Curley has until August 24 to submit his legals and to file an amended suit, according to the federal Court Order.
Related Post: Limit Curley’s Legal Fees to $2600
Judge Martinotti’s Order and Opinion can be found below:
7-25-18 ORDER7-25-18 OPINION
More from my site
Who is paying Curley’s Legal Fees? Are Those Fees Campaign Expenses?
Curley Threatened to Stab DiMaso
Transcript: Curley called DiMaso a “Staten Island Guinea”- Limit Curley’s Legal Fees to $2600
Curley Accused of Official Misconduct, Corruption
Lillian Burry says John Curley threatened her
Hanlon certifies Curley’s nominating petition
Monmouth GOP releases video calling on Curley to resign- New Corruption Allegations Made Against Curley
Arnone confronts Curley for use of gay slur
Should have worked something out, before all the madness got that bad. Hope the GOP is ready for the upcoming onslaught, and that we do not lose a seat over this political disaster.
“Worked Out?”
What do you mean by that?
Paid off? You don’t work out something with a bully rewarding them.
John Curly was not going to step down and evidence that he wants to play games his say is his entry as an independent for Freeholder.
You don’t pay off somebody as a reward for their abusive, threatening, abhorrent Behavior. It is ridiculous for people to even say that John is deserving of any sort of payoff. Actually, I think the Republicans show a lot of class to stand up to someone who has been so abusive to employees and has not 1 not 2 not 3 not 4 not 5 but at least six women filing complaints against him. How could they possibly support this person? Anyone who still supports him after all we know and it is probably just the tip of the iceberg, should be ashamed of themselves.
Why should he be rewarded for his abusive, threatening, obscene behavior? This is a guy who has not one, not two, not 3, not 4, not 5, but six women filing complaints against him. If anything, I think the Republicans have handled it in a very classy way. They saw one of their own misbehaving and refused to cover for him. How could anyone possibly support him to run again? He should resign immediately and remove the dark cloud from the Freeholder board
Sorry for the (almost ) duplicate post. I thought I lost the first one and tried to redo
Here is the bottom line. What John did was outrageous. No excuse. However, the R leadership failed us BIG time by not working out a solution to this long ago and now what you now have is “mad dog” Curly with his loyal base (no matter how small) out to do damage and they can. The R leadership is to blame here for now working out a transition months ago. We have 2 very nice candidates (nice people) but they are soft, not fighters and on no way battle tested. They are frankly weak. Nice on paper but untested in battle. With Gopal $ and now a second frontal attack from Curly (no matter how damaged he is) one of the two R’s is going to have a problem. And Curly will be the reason we lose a seat…..because the R leadership did not deal with this from the start the right way. This is what happens when the JV team runs the top of the party.
Wrong as usual Tim h. You are blaming the victim. In no way do I want my taxpayer dollars given to a guy as a way of paying him off to go away. That is blackmail. This is 110% the fault of John Curley. He has shown himself to be a phony, and an incompetent public servant. I hope that the report will be released so the whole world can see who this guy really is.
I’m very concerned that sitting freeholders had to be held in contempt of court and as a punishment had to use taxpayer money to pay the lawyers on both sides. If they are willing to treat someone who can fight back like this, what will they do to a weaker person?
R Leadership is to blame? That’s a laugh. The R Leadership exposed it and censured him. You don’t sweep things like this under the table unless you want the Democrats to use it against us.
And apparently, you don’t know the real John Curley, stubborn, defiant and showboat. Secondly, an investigation needed to be done to verify things.
I hope you are out there working to make sure our two Freeholder candidates win instead of worrying about them loosing.
John Curley, we know you are reading this. Stop being selfish and get out of the race. If you are intent on trying to see that a Democrat wins, you are not half the man I thought you were. Seriously.
Work out something before that investigation? Surely you are kidding. Hell no. That’s a “Swamp, Old Boy’s Club” way of doing things.
Last paragraph belongs before John Curley, ect.
But hey, you know what I mean 🙂
You are missing my point. The leadership should have handled BETTER before spending all this tax payer money…..never sweep it under the rug. Never. However, there should have been a way to force him out and avoid all this tax payer money being spent. John needs to go, no question. He’s no victim. His behavior is deplorable. My point is that more experienced and savvy leadership would have been able to expose him, get him out long ago and move on before wasting hundreds of thousands.
More savvy leadership? I doubt any exists and none stepped up to challenge the Chair so there’s that. They took legal remedies so that everything was properly documented and threw him off the ticket. Anything else would have been a bribe or a payoff, whether it involved money or not.
Please propose how you would have it done better. Specifics please.
Force him out?
Curley is hard ass and won’t stand for being pushed around. He’s been embarrassed in public as often as possible and yet he still stays around. That’s because he’s more stubborn than a mule.
Come on Tim, your the one saying these things should be done better. Cite some examples of how you would have done it. If you’ve got better ideas, maybe you should have run for Chair.
Sure. You hold a press conference with victims and special interest groups that publicly demand John step down; you apply pressure at every public meeting with protestors; you disclose the accusations publicly and read them aloud at every meeting over and over; you form a coalition of major public leaders that insist upon his resignation, etc. These are just a few examples (although you will suggest none would have worked). The bottom line is that this should have been handled better vs. lawsuits. Go ahead and protect the leadership all you want but the fact is this was not done well and all the PR to say how great they did this is just baloney.
it won’t matter what any of think should or shouldn’t have been done. Horse is out if that barn now. Am looking forward to a very positive highlighting of the two new candidates we nominated. And not just on Facebook. Takes more than that. It would not hurt to, from Labor Day on til the election,remind everyone of all the great things about our county, and why people are moving here in droves. And, that it is Republicans who built it,and keep it that way. We won many races in the past with “ Keep Monmouth Green,” something all can get behind. Try it again.
Our Freeholder candidates have been out door knocking since April. That’s a hell of a lot more than Facebook
14,000 calls have been made out of County HQ, that’s a lot more than Facebook.
And I’m quite sure they are already highlighting how great Monmouth is.
Tell me, what are YOU doing for the cause.
So say you, not well done.
You do remember he was also censured, right? That’s a pretty big step.
Again, if you think you could have done it better, maybe you should have run for Chair.
Armchair quarterbacks in politics are a dime a dozen. Tell me though, what are YOU doing to help the cause this year?
Are you kidding Tim h? Have you seen the Republican ticket this year? From Bob Hugin down to many of the local races we have one of the best tickets I’ve ever seen. The Freeholder candidates have a record that is unmatched and when you compare them to the two Democrat nobodies they put on there, this November will be a no-brainerto. Couple that with the disaster that Phil Murphy is turning out to be and the success of the policies at the federal level and we should steamroll them. What we do need is for people like you to get behind the Republican ticket and start helping rather than just sitting there behind the keyboard telling everyone what they’re doing wrong. Between what I am seeing on Facebook Facebook and the ground game that the county Republicans are undertaking I am really excited about this year and our chances to push back against Phil Murphy and his band of socialists.
with the pom-poms in full tow!
There is no question this whole situation was botched. More seasoned leaders would have handled better. The problem is that the leadership thought they’d score points by being champions of the #metoo movement and be lauded by the media. That never happened. So rather that effectively deal with the issue they played to the APP who will never give the R’s credit. So their strategy backfired. Now they have a “hot under the collar” Curley out to simply take ’em all down as he has no downside. It was a political gamble and they lost. Too bad.
the always defensive chip on the shoulder, ( Brian again,?) the moment anyone suggests what has worked before, and could be updated and used again. Will match phone hours ( not just auto dials/ leaving messages,) in selling actual tickets, (to many of the real and older supporters, several of whom have been dumped in favor or new -blood leaders” who like titles, chasing absentee ballots, and writing personal checks, (not campaign account checks,)-to pay the consultants,- as well as attending events, and showing up at various bus stops, public meetings, various other outreach mechanisms, with anyone..it is all simply going to be needed this year, believe it.
Since you copied and pasted from the other post, I will as well…
Maybe YOU should have run for chair too. More seasoned leaders? Surely you are kidding us.
Tell us Robbie, what would YOU have done other than complain.
Tell us what YOU are doing this campaign season to help, other than complain
@ Tim H.
Still haven’t heard what you are doing to help the cause.
Know it alls like you crack me up. Everyone else is incompetent and not up to the job except the wizards behind the keyboard like Robbie. The Republicans have handled this about as well as could be expected. When you have six women come forward all workers who have crossed paths with curly, how is the Republican Party responsible for that? It’s John Curley and John Curley alone who is responsible for This Disaster. Nothing could have been done and suggestions to pay him off are disgraceful. If he had any integrity at all he would step down and save everyone the embarrassment of what he is doing.
NEVER suggested paying him off. That would be a disgrace. Had they went public with every accusation, had people speak up, and have an organized campaign to force John out (relentless pressure from woman’s groups, civil rights groups, etc.) that could have worked. US Senators were forced out, Congress members, TV celebrities, etc. They were forced out because of a grass-roots campaign with enormous public pressure. We did not do any of that. Instead Curley shows up at Lincoln Day (what!) and other R events. He shows up at count events. Parades himself at the County Fair! Yes is still a Freeholder but had there been an organized, mounted campaign with people at every turn banging the drum calling him out and constantly going after his for this sickening behavior he’d have been forced out. This is not just about the “chair”. It was an organizational failure of the whole party apparatus for not designing a public approach to demand he go and use the extraordinary resources of the party to get him out. That is the only point. No one is bashing Shawn so people can relax. This is my opinion and until as a party we are prepared to be critical of our actions from time to time we live in an “emperor’s got no clothes” approach. Time to admit this was not handled as well as it could have been is all and now we have to deal with it. We look and sound like Democrats when we bash each other when someone speaks up with a differing view.
What, we’re supposed to throw him in jail because he parades around and attends events?
You hit the nail on the head. He’s a sitting Freeholder (unfortunately) and there is nothing you can do to force him out of office and force him not to do these things.
I know John Curley and he is a stubborn mule. I suggest that your “grass roots” idea would have only had him dig in his heels.
You are bashing Shaun by extension suggesting that “more seasoned” leaders would have done things differently.
Now again, tell us what YOU are doing to make sure our Freeholder candidates win. You seem to have avoided that question at least 2 times, arm chair quarterback that you seem to be.
Quit whining and get to work.
I guess the cat has Tim H’s & Robbie’s tongue because they ain’t telling us what they are doing to help the Freeholder Campaign and ensure John Curley doesn’t screw the Republicans.
I laid out specific ideas and you did exactly what I said you would; trash them and dismiss them because you are 1000000% certain the current team just nailed it perfectly. Heaven forbid someone has an opposing view. That is very sad. And I am working very hard for the whole R team so stop with the “holier than though” act as if only a few are out there campaigning. Very wrong of you to suggest that is the case. You can defensively support your view and I have mine and the last time I checked we all have the right to a view and the ability to post it. If all we want is people telling everyone how smart we all are and not playing contrarian on occasion that we’re Democrats and not Republicans. Bottom line is it is a bad very situation and many think it was botched or could have been handled better and that’s that.
Glad that you like many others are working supporting the team but cry me a river over your complaints.
What would YOU have done differently? As I have said elsewhere,
John Curley is a stubborn and selfish person. Protests would have only made him dig his heels in.
Am I 100,000% sure? No one can be that sure.
Again, all of these armchair quarterbacks show up complaining but none put their money where their mouths are to challenge those they think failed during our bi annual Reorganization. If that failure was so bad, I would think someone would stand up.
Did I say few are working? NO, I did not.
You twisted it into saying I suggested very few were working. I know that not to be so. Trust me, I know.
I did however, ask two particular people what they were doing other than complaining and worrying about it. I have a right to do that.
So far, they haven’t had the courage to respond so for me, they remain arm chair quarterbacks.
I wish those “many” who think it was botched would stand up and personally say so. But I suspect that many is few and many of those few are too cowardly to put their name in front of their complaint.
That’s my opinion.
I laid out exactly what I would have done differently and you paned each one since you are so SURE no one else could have done better. Amazing. And no, I and others won’t go public since that is how you get voted off the island…that is when you disagree with this bunch you are OUT. Only 100% blind loyalty (over competence) is accepted and so if you speak up and disagree its over, which is sad. And everyone knows that. Just ask Lilian
Who are you Tim H or Robbie? Let’s try and keep that straight first.
I don’t see a Will above. your first post where you claim I trashed Will’s ideas. I did not respond to any “Will” trashing “Will’s” ideas.
And if you are changing names, how can one trust you?
Now, moving on, I laid out why those ideas would not succeed. Curley is an arrogant, selfish and stubborn mule.
And no, I am not a blind loyalist. I used to support Curley, now he has lost it. I have had my differences with leadership and have voiced that to them privately.
Have YOU voiced those differences to them? Have you voiced those different ideas to them? At this point I would guess not because you are afraid of getting “voted off the island.”
That’s not too courageous, is it? If you don’t fight for what you believe in, I would say you don’t believe very strongly in those convictions.