To file a lawsuit against a public entity, a person must first file a tort claim notice.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP - A veteran police officer is suing the township police department, claiming that his rights were violated when he was suspended without pay in October.
It's the third lawsuit filed in Hunterdon County Superior Court against the police department within 12 months.
Patrolman Lawrence Anthes, who has been a member of the department for 17 years, alleges in the lawsuit that the decision by Chief Thomas LaRosa to suspend the patrolman in October was "not made in good faith."
The circumstances leading to the suspension began in January when his estranged wife filed a series of Internal Affairs complaints with the police department charging him with assault and harassment.
At that time, according to the lawsuit, Anthes was not suspended and remained on duty until April when he went out on short-term disability until September.
Two of the complaints were dismissed in June, but the third is pending.
On Oct. 3, about 10 months after the complaints were made, Anthes was notified of the suspension without pay. According to the lawsuit, the suspension notice "misquotes" state law and provides a "false pretext" for the suspension.
Anthes also alleges that he was not provided with the township's evidence prior to an Oct. 8 hearing after which he was suspended.
Anthes also alleges that the "true motivation" behind the decision was that the chief and the department "were tired of waiting" for the third complaint to be adjudicated.
Clinton Township has not yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
In 2023 Anthes was demoted from sergeant to patrolman and suspended for 30 days for violating the department's records accountability policy and being accused of giving confidential documents to a person outside the department without written authorization from the police chief.
Anthes has been honored by the 200 Club of Hunterdon County, the Hunterdon County Crime Stoppers and the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners for his work as a detective in the department.
In the other pending cases, Stephen Hars, who was terminated from the department in May, filed suit in December 2023 that he was retaliated against because he sought to take paternity leave and was the victim of discrimination because he took medication for ADHD.
In September, Jennifer Pawlick, who was named the county's "Crime Stopper of the Year" in 2023, filed a lawsuit, alleging that after she complained to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office that she was being discriminated against because of her gender, she became the victim of a retaliatory hostile work environment because of making the complaint.
The township has denied the allegations in both lawsuits and has called them "frivolous."