MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 1 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

Paul Castronovo (Attorney ID # 015651999)

CASTRONOVO & McKINNEY, LLC
71 Maple Avenue
Morristown, New Jersey 07960
(973) 920-7888
Attorneys for Plaintiff
Scott Carew

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

DAVID SCOTT CAREW, LAW DIVISION – MONMOUTH COUNTY

Plaintiff, DOCKET NO.

v. Civil Action

BOROUGH OF MATAWAN, COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND

Defendants.

Plaintiff, David Scott Carew (“Plaintiff”), through his attorneys, Castronovo & McKinney,

LLC, files this Complaint and Jury Demand seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages,

attorneys’ fees, and costs of suit from Defendant, Borough of Matawan (“Defendant”), and alleges

as follows:

FACTS

A. Jurisdiction and Venue

1. Plaintiff resides at 701 Yorktown Lane, Moorestown, New Jersey.

2. Defendant is a municipal government entity with a principal place of operation at

201 Broad Street, Matawan, New Jersey.

3. Defendant employed Plaintiff at 201 Broad Street, Matawan, New Jersey.

B. Plaintiff’s Employment, Whistleblowing, and Retaliatory Firing.

4. Defendant employed Plaintiff as Interim Borough Administrator beginning March

19, 2020 and as permanent Borough Administrator beginning June 3, 2020.

5. Defendant terminated Plaintiff’s employment on December 6, 2022.

 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 2 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

6. In terminating Plaintiff’s employment, Defendant retaliated against him for

disclosing and objecting to Defendant’s misuse of public funds when Defendant paid the

fraudulent billings by Marmero Law, LLC and its predecessor, Grace, Marmero & Associates,

LLP.

7. Marmero Law serves as Defendant’s labor counsel.

8. Marmero Law’s principal, Albert Marmero, has been a large Democratic Party

campaign donor to political allies of Democratic Party affiliated members of Defendant’s

governing body, contributing nearly $50,000 between 2018-2021, as well as directly contributing

to Matawan Councilwoman Deana Gunn.

9. On March 25, 2020, Plaintiff informed Councilwoman Gunn that Grace, Marmero

& Associates, LLP billed Defendant for unsolicited COVID-19 legal advice.

10. He informed Councilwoman Gunn that he wanted “to put an immediate stop to it.”

11. Councilwoman Gunn agreed that such billing “sounds ridiculous.”

12. Plaintiff responded to Councilwoman Gunn that that he would “deal with it.”

13. Defendant’s Police Chief, Tom Falco, then added that he was unaware that Grace,

Marmero was billing Defendant for such COVID emails as he thought it was “a courtesy provided

by the firm during crisis.”

14. That same day, Plaintiff contacted Doug Long and Anthony Musitano of Grace,

Marmero to advise that Defendant would not pay for unsolicited legal advice and to cease such

billing.

15. Plaintiff then immediately informed Councilwoman Gunn that, “Unless you direct

me to do otherwise, I am going to have Nicole [Horvath] flag these invoices and dispute them.”

16. Mr. Long agreed that day that his firm would cease unsolicited billing.

2
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 3 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

17. In that same email of March 25, Mr. Long informed Plaintiff that he was leaving

Grace, Marmero and that the firm had assigned a new lawyer to serve as Defendant’s labor counsel,

Kathleen Bonczyk.

18. Plaintiff then emailed Councilwoman Gunn and Chief Falco to ask if they knew

Grace, Marmero was transitioning another lawyer to advise Defendant on labor matters.

19. Councilwoman Gunn responded, “No, we weren’t aware.”

20. Plaintiff then informed both Councilwoman Gunn and Chief Falco that Ms.

Bonczyk had no labor law experience and he was “a little concerned” since Defendant had “some

serious labor issues to deal with,” including lawsuits by two police officers.

21. In the months after these email communications on March 25, Plaintiff exchanged

several additional communications with Councilwoman Gunn and Grace, Marmero on these

billing issues.

22. On September 21, 2020, Plaintiff emailed his concerns about Grace, Marmero’s

excessive and/or fraudulent billing.

23. He sent that email to Councilwoman Gunn, Police Chief Falco, Ms. Horvath, then-

Councilman John Lazar, and Matawan Mayor Joseph Altomonte.

24. After detailing the excessive and/or fraudulent bills, Plaintiff closed his email by

stating, “I will ask them [Marmero Law] to identify who is billing what hours going forward.

Nicole, do we have a per hour breakdown from Grace/Marmero on who gets what hourly rate?

Including some other questionable billing practices we caught months ago, I think we should

consider moving on to another firm for 2021.”

25. Police Chief Falco replied that, “The concerns you have raised in addition to the

fact that this firm is based out of Gloucester County (with an office in Tinton Falls), coupled with

3
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 4 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

the fact that Mr. Grace will be leaving the firm in the coming months, further supports the need to

at least look at another firm for the CY2021.”

26. Despite these concerns by Plaintiff and Police Chief Falco, Defendant continued to

retain Grace, Marmero as labor counsel.

27. On January 5, 2022, Marmero Law introduced a new lawyer to serve as Defendant’s

labor counsel, Amy Krumenacker, because Michael Burns was leaving Marmero Law.

28. Plaintiff informed Ms. Krumenacker, “I direct where work goes and ask that you

do not do anything that will result in billable hours without my prior authorization. With Mike

joining another firm within our roster of legal professionals, I plan on having him continue all

work he is already working on.”

29. Plaintiff then informed Councilwoman Gunn and Mayor Altomonte that Ms.

Krumenacker graduated from law school less than two years ago.

30. Councilwoman Gunn replied later that day, “Anything new can/should be sent to

them [Marmero Law].”

31. Plaintiff replied, “Amy Krumenacker has been practicing law for barely one year

and there is nothing on her profile page that would lead me to believe she has any experience in

labor/employment law. Her email itself is yet another example of this firm trying to create billable

hours unsolicited. Hopefully, we will not have anything new.”

32. On February 15, 2022, Plaintiff questioned additional excessive and/or fraudulent

bills from Marmero Law to Defendant.

33. The law firm responded to his inquiry the next day.

34. On February 17, Plaintiff doubted the validity of these invoices in an email to

Amanda Gresko and Albert Marmero: “Thanks Amanda. Just so you and I are on the same page,

4
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 5 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

the CDC modification of their isolation and quarantine protocols that you say occurred in the first

week of January, actually was announced by the CDC on December 27, 2021. Here is a copy of

the online press release off the CDC’s website: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-

isolation-quarantine-guidance.html[.] That is the same modification that Jenn [Pelosi] was tasked

with comparing to the policy that I sent to Borough staff on 12/28 and CC’d Mike (among other

people) on. Also, who exactly tasked Jenn with her review?”

35. The next day, Plaintiff informed Marmero Law, “This represents another example

of what I consider to be problematic billing by the firm. The COVID policy update in question

was a direct cut and paste from the CDC’s own press release and had been reviewed by Mike –

our labor attorney while he was still in the employ of your firm – as well as our risk manager

before distribution. I did not need or want a paralegal to provide an additional review of a policy

that had already been distributed to the staff a week earlier.”

36. Plaintiff forwarded his email to Councilwoman Gunn and Mayor Altomonte.

37. On July 18, 2022, after Marmero Law solicited Councilwoman Gunn to perform

legal work on an alleged PERC update – later determined by Plaintiff and Ms. Horvath to be

unnecessary – Plaintiff informed Councilwoman Gunn, “Unfortunately, their track record with

manufacturing billable hours leads me to a default position of skepticism. Probably why they

solicited you instead of Nicole or me.”

38. Plaintiff then emailed Mayor Altomonte on November 18 and 22, 2022 with links

showing that other towns have complained about excessive billing by Marmero Law.

39. On November 23, 2022, Plaintiff emailed Mayor Altomonte and Borough Counsel

Pasquale Menna complaining of Marmero Law’s unethical practices: “I find it more than a

coincidence that after sending these emails to the Mayor, you [Mr. Menna] call me today to tell

5
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 6 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

me that this very same attorney [Albert Marmero] who’s been admonished by the courts for funky

accounting and had multiple stories that can be fairly described as corrupt pay to play type stuff,

is being retained to get rid of me. Not surprised. It allows him retribution for calling him out for

his unethical billing practices. It also allows him to bill if this is not handled amicably. Which is

what he wants. It’s good for him, not for Matawan. I’ve checked him out on [ELEC] and know

he spent around $40k on donations the past couple years. Perhaps he’s looking for a return on

investment. The smart move for Deana [Gunn] would have been to tell me she wanted me gone

and give me an opportunity to find other employment….I refused to do things asked of me for

political reasons that would have been bad for Matawan. I have documentation and witnesses. Just

to be clear, I’m saying I refused the direction of using taxpayer money to fulfill political favors of

the governing body. This is why they want [to get] rid of me.”

40. By email on November 30, 2022, Mr. Marmero advised Plaintiff that, “I was

contacted by the Borough and told that you have been informed that the Borough will not be

proceeding with renewal of your employment contract for 2023.”

41. Mr. Marmero’s November 30 email reveals that Defendant decided to terminate

Plaintiff’s employment without a properly noticed meeting in violation of the Open Public

Meetings Act (OPMA), N.J.S.A. 10:4-6, et seq.

42. Moreover, the Democratic Party members of Defendant’s governing body

constituting a majority made this decision without consulting the Republican Party members of

the governing body which also violated OPMA.

43. On December 6, 2022, Defendant terminated Plaintiff’s employment by a vote of

4-1-1.

6
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 7 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

44. Councilwoman Gunn, Councilman Brian Livesey, Councilwoman Stephanie

Buckel, and Councilman Brett Cannon voted “Yes” to terminate Plaintiff’s employment.

45. Councilman Charles Ross voted “No” and Councilwoman Melanie Wang voted

“Abstain.”

46. In sum, Defendant, driven by Councilwoman Gunn who has received campaign

contributions from Mr. Marmero, fired Plaintiff for refusing to use taxpayer money to pay the

fraudulent bills of a politically-connected law firm.

47. In opposing and disclosing such fraudulent practices to protect the citizens of

Matawan Borough and other legal violations, Plaintiff engaged in whistleblower activity protected

by law.

COUNT I

Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA)

48. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates the facts alleged in the preceding paragraphs.

49. At all relevant times, Defendant employed Plaintiff.

50. Defendant’s governing body members served as Plaintiff’s supervisors as defined

by the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 34:19-1, et seq.

51. Plaintiff disclosed, refused to participate in, and/or objected to Defendant’s

repeated misuses of taxpayer money when Defendant, through its governing body, knowingly paid

fraudulent bills of Marmero Law in violation of New Jersey’s clear mandate of public policy

against fraud, New Jersey common law prohibiting fraud, 18 U.S.C. §1343 (wire fraud), 18 U.S.C.

§1341 (mail fraud), N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6 (conspiracy), N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3 (theft by unlawful taking),

N.J.S.A. 2C:20-4 (theft by deception), N.J.S.A. 2C:21-3 (filing false documents), N.J.S.A. 2C:21-

7(h) (deceptive business practices), N.J.S.A. 2C:21-10(a) (breach of duty to act disinterestedly),

7
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 8 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2 (official misconduct), N.J.S.A. 2C:27-12 (corruption of public resources),

among other statutes, laws, and public policy.

52. In response to Plaintiff’s disclosures, refusals to participate in, and/or objections,

Defendant, solely through the Democratic majority of its governing body, terminated Plaintiff’s

employment.

53. Defendant’s termination of Plaintiff’s employment is an adverse employment

action causally linked in fact to Plaintiff’s protected activities of disclosing, refusing to participate

in, and/or objecting to Defendant’s illegal activities.

54. Defendant’s retaliation violates the Conscientious Employee Protection Act,

N.J.S.A. 34:19-1, et seq.

55. Defendant’s conduct was willful, malicious and/or especially egregious and done

with the knowledge and/or participation of upper-level management of Defendant, including but

not limited to Councilwoman Gunn, Councilman Brian Livesey, Councilwoman Stephanie

Buckel, and Councilman Brett Cannon.

56. As a result of Defendant’s wrongful conduct, Plaintiff has suffered, and continues

to suffer, damages including: back pay, front pay, emotional distress, and other damages.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff seeks judgment on all counts against Defendant awarding him

compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs of suit, pre- and post-judgment

interest, and all other relief that the Court deems equitable and just.

CASTRONOVO & McKINNEY, LLC

Dated: December 9, 2022 By:__________________________

Paul Castronovo
Attorneys for Plaintiff

8
 MON-L-003396-22 12/12/2022 2:00:00 AM Pg 9 of 9 Trans ID: LCV20224184394

DEMAND FOR TRIAL BY JURY

Plaintiff demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable.

CASTRONOVO & McKINNEY, LLC

Dated: December 9, 2022 By:__________________________

Paul Castronovo
Attorneys for Plaintiff

DESIGNATION OF TRIAL COUNSEL

Plaintiff designates Paul Castronovo as trial counsel in this action.

CASTRONOVO & McKINNEY, LLC

Dated: December 9, 2022 By:__________________________

Paul Castronovo
Attorneys for Plaintiff

RULE 4:5-1 CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that this matter is not the subject of any other pending civil action or

arbitration proceeding. I further certify that I know of no other parties who should be joined in

this litigation at the present time.

CASTRONOVO & McKINNEY, LLC

Dated: December 9, 2022 By:__________________________

Paul Castronovo
Attorneys for Plaintiff