$2.5M tort claim alleges Spotswood mayor 'has turned the borough into an absolute mess'

Spotswood Police Chief Philip Corbisiero has filed notice that he intends to sue the borough for $2.5 million.

In the 27-page tort claim filed Friday with the borough, Corbisiero alleges he has been subjected to a hostile work environment, harassment, retaliation, age discrimination and defamation by Mayor Jackie Palmer, Business Administrator Brandon Umba and Assistant Business Administrator John Scrivanic.

Borough Attorney Victoria Flynn said the borough does not comment on pending litigation.

Corbisiero's action comes as the borough finds itself in the middle of a litigation storm involving members of the police department and the mayor.

In the claim, the chief, who joined the department in 1994, alleges that he has been "effectively and constructively demoted and stripped of his authority and position" and has been "relegating to simply trying to stop Palmer and Umba," a former state Assemblyman who was defeated for reelection in November, "from engaging in shocking illegalities" involving the police department.

"All of his efforts to work with the Palmer Administration has instead led to his punishment," the tort claim says.

Corbisiero contends he "must engage in a constant battle to protect the integrity of the department and to protect his staff," adding the officials' behavior has turned the borough "into an absolute mess."

"The Borough has become polarized and non-unified with employees constantly looking over their shoulder because they fear repercussion's and vindictive, targeted attacks by Mayor Palmer and her henchmen, Business Administrator Umba and Assistant Business Administrator Scrivanic," according to the tort claim.

Scrivanic is a former police chief from Tinton Falls.

Corbisiero alleges that the retaliation against him was prompted by the role he played in the eventual removal of Palmer's husband from the department. In his suit filed Jan. 15, Richard Sasso Jr., another police officer suing the borough and Palmer, said he was also being retaliated against for the role he played in the departure of Palmer's husband from the department.

Corbisiero also alleges that he has been targeted for filing a lawsuit in 2020 with former Police Chief Michael Zarro alleging they were victims of age discrimination and whistleblowing retaliation against former Mayor Ed Seely and former Business Administrator Dawn McDonald. Zarro received an out-of-court settlement for $350,000 and Corbisiero received $120,000.

McDonald is suing Palmer, Zarro, Corbisiero, Seely and others, claiming she was the victim of harassment and a hostile work environment. That case is heading to trial on May 28.

Palmer, the chief's tort claim alleges, "was engaging in serious plotting" to remove him as chief, including subjecting him to "heightened scrutiny and bogus accusations."

The mayor began calling him "stupid" and "ungrateful" and began floating the idea of replacing Corbisiero with "some of her favored, less senior officers" or abolishing the chief's position and replacing it with a police director picked by her.

In the fall of 2022, the tort claim says, the mayor "stripped" the chief of his "paramount duties" and "punished him" by denying him any input on the department's budget, leaving him "in the dark" about the budget.

Corbisiero "has been forced to submit purchase orders for any spending without knowing what his overall budget is and how it is being affected," according to the tort notice.

Corbisiero also charges that Palmer hired Scrivanic as "her chief" and "to assist her with meddling with the Department and expelling him."

As the mayor's "cat paw," Scrivanic then began intervening in the police department and challenging the chief's personnel assignments, the chief alleges.

"(Scrivanic) continued looking for things to fault (Corbisiero) on based on his marching orders from Mayor Palmer," the tort notice claims.

The chief also alleges that Palmer hiring Umbra "brought a whole new level of nefarious behavior."

The chief also alleges that Umba was "clearly trying to set (Corbisiero) up for failure and potential discipline by issuing near impossible, constant mandates" that were "largely nonsensical or inappropriate. "

The chief "has to persistently, repeatedly and diplomatically explain to Umba that what he is doing is correct and, on many occasions, that the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has confirmed (Corbisiero's) decisions as proper," the tort notice says. "Such unlawful, harassing, vindictive interference has to come to an end."

The chief's action came less than two weeks after Officer Sasso filed his lawsuit against the borough and the mayor under the state's Whistleblower Law.

In that 45-page lawsuit, Sasso, who has been with the Spotswood Police Department since 2012 and serves as president of the Spotswood PBA Local 225, cites among his allegations of the "prevalent corruption" in the mayor's office, is his investigation into an April 2022 incident when Palmer became irate when police did not remove a Black man from the municipal building and the alleged coverup of her actions.

Palmer and the borough have filed a motion asking a Superior Court judge to redact portions of Sasso's lawsuit that alleges she "personally sought to stymie" his career "by preventing him from being promoted and repeatedly criticizing/badmouthing him to essentially anyone who would listen."

The borough last week filed a lawsuit against the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, but its details are sealed.

The chief's tort claim is another chapter in the lengthy litigation between Spotswood police officers and the borough in the 2.4-square-mile borough with a population of 8,000.

Last year Brittany Johnson, the borough's first female police officer, filed suit against Palmer, Corbisiero, Sgt. Nelson Nichols, Officer Ozman Dikiz and the borough, alleging she was the subject of discrimination, retaliation and harassment because of her gender. That suit is still pending.

Also still pending is a lawsuit filed by officers John Fedak, Nicholas Mayo and Edward Scharpley in June 2020 against McDonald, the former business administrator, Seeley, the former mayor, and the borough, alleging they were the victims of a hostile work environment, harassment and retaliation.

Dawn Crandall, the borough's head crossing guard, has also filed a $2.5 million tort claim against the borough and the mayor, alleging she has been the victim of a hostile and retaliatory work environment.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Spotswood NJ hit with $2.5M tort claim by police chief