Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Matawan Lawsuit
Matawan Lawsuit
v. Civil Action
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
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.
8. Marmero Law’s principal, Albert Marmero, has been a large Democratic Party
governing body, contributing nearly $50,000 between 2018-2021, as well as directly contributing
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.”
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
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.
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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.
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
23. He sent that email to Councilwoman Gunn, Police Chief Falco, Ms. Horvath, then-
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
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
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the fact that Mr. Grace will be leaving the firm in the coming months, further supports the need to
26. Despite these concerns by Plaintiff and Police Chief Falco, Defendant continued to
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
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
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
32. On February 15, 2022, Plaintiff questioned additional excessive and/or fraudulent
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,
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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
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
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
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
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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
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
constituting a majority made this decision without consulting the Republican Party members of
4-1-1.
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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
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
48. Plaintiff repeats and incorporates the facts alleged in the preceding paragraphs.
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),
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Defendant, solely through the Democratic majority of its governing body, terminated Plaintiff’s
employment.
action causally linked in fact to Plaintiff’s protected activities of disclosing, refusing to participate
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
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.
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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