New Jersey Turnpike. Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia/Famartin

Three Republican lawyers working at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority have filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing Gov. Phil Murphy's administration of firing them because of their political affiliation.

The lawyers were hired during Gov. Chris Christie's administration and spent their days on routine tasks such as drafting real estate contracts rather than formulating policy, the suit claims. But soon after Murphy took office in January 2018, he installed Diane Scaccetti as acting commissioner of the Turnpike Authority, and she "initiated a partisan, vengeful plan to oust all NJTA law department employees who were Republican and/or perceived supporters of former Governor Chris Christie, regardless of employment level," the suit claims.

The plaintiffs—Nicholas DePalma, Paul Macchia and Maulik Sanghavi—received letters on Feb. 26, 2018, from Mary-Elizabeth Garrity, the agency's director of human resources, saying their positions were considered "policymaking and advisory" jobs and that they were being terminated as a result of the change in administrations. They were instructed to leave the premises the same day.

"For me, that letter is a smoking gun, if, at the end of the day it's proven that they are not policymaking individuals," said Marc Garbar of the Law Offices of Brandon Broderick in River Edge, who represents the plaintiffs.

DePalma, Macchia and Sanghavi lacked the authority to make final decisions, and they tackled assignments that merely required a neutral, objective application of already-established laws and regulations of the NJTA, their suit said. The suit was filed in Monmouth County Superior Court in February and removed to U.S. District Court in Trenton on Tuesday.

Macchia and Sanghavi were hired in 2015, and DePalma in 2016. At the time of their hiring, they were known in the agency as Republicans or perceived as supporters of Christie, the suit claims.

Turnover is routine among top policymakers at state agencies when a new governor is elected, but previous administrations have not gone after midlevel employees such as the plaintiffs, said Garbar. Besides DePalma, Macchia and Sanghavi, there were one or two other attorneys at the Turnpike Authority who were let go under the same circumstances, said Garbar. He says he believes Murphy knew that the plaintiffs were being dismissed.

While working at the NJTA, DePalma, Macchia and Sanghavi were closely supervised and held to strict productivity requirements, were not permitted to enter the quarters occupied by policymakers at agency headquarters, and were discouraged from speaking with them, the suit claims. The plaintiffs were not at-will employees but were protected by duly executed contracts that barred discrimination based on political affiliation, the suit claims.

The plaintiffs bring claims under federal civil rights law based on violations of the First Amendment. They seek lost wages, compensatory and emotional distress damages, noncompensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. They also claim violations of New Jersey civil rights law.

Murphy's administration faced similar claims in another suit, filed in July 2019 on behalf of six employees of the School Development Authority, who claimed they were fired to make room for political appointees. That case is pending in Mercer County Superior Court.

Thomas Abbate of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Giblin in Paramus represents the Turnpike Authority, Scaccetti, Garrity and other members of the Turnpike Authority Board of Commissioners, who were also named as defendants. Abbate did not return a call about the suit, and a Turnpike Authority spokesman also did not return a call about the case. The Attorney General's Office, which represents Murphy, declined to comment

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