Former Fort Lee school security coordinator claims retaliation in lawsuit
A former security coordinator in the Fort Lee school district is accusing the board of education of retaliating against him in a lawsuit filed earlier this month.
Scott Bendul said he was fired in December 2021 after he filled out a questionnaire regarding any irregularities or theft at the board of education during an audit of the district's accounting and purchasing procedures.
According to the lawsuit filed on Dec. 9 in Bergen Superior Court, he was responsible for inspecting buildings and grounds and to check how well things were done by employees and contractors. He also had some responsibilities regarding public contracts for smaller purchase orders.
The suit stated that Bendul would outline work that needed to be done and would get quotes from vendors. With his secretary, he would type up purchase orders with the quotes and submit them to business administrator Haqquisha Taylor. Getting Taylor's approval for purchase orders is required by state law, according to the lawsuit.
The board hired an auditor in the fall of 2021 to audit their accounting and purchasing processes and a questionnaire was sent to Bendul asking if he knew of any theft or irregularities. Bendul said he approached Superintendent Robert Kravitz about the survey, concerned about potential retaliation from Taylor if he answered the survey honestly.
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"In response to [Bendul's] fear, [Kravitz] advised [Bendul] to fill out the questionnaire truthfully and told him that he would not be retaliated against," the suit said. "[Kravitz] encouraged [Bendul] that he was not going anywhere."
Bendul said he indicated that Taylor and the board of education violated the state's public contracting laws when it came to purchasing practices including failing to maintain signed copies of contracts and failing to obtain a new contract when a new building needed to be cleaned.
The former employee said the promises made to him by Kravitz were broken because he was retaliated against. Bendul claims he was called into Kravtiz's office and was told the auditor said he did not get quotes and enter contracts properly. Bendul argues that it was Taylor's misconduct because contracts are all subject to her approval.
A week after that first meeting, Bendul said he was called into the office again and told he was being placed on administrative leave. He believed Taylor and a member of the board of education made "false and defamatory statements" in response to his questionnaire answers. He said statements made against him included accusations of criminal conduct and for receiving kickbacks for certain contracts.
He was allegedly supposed to receive a copy of the investigation report done by Kravitz and never did, he said; nor did he receive the Rice Notice informing him of being placed on administrative leave pending termination. Bendul was later fired at the Dec. 13, 2021 board meeting.
Kravits and Taylor did not respond to calls for comment.
Bendul said he was initially denied unemployment benefits, had a job offer from the Rutherford Board of Education revoked and has been rejected from a number of jobs, including the Glen Ridge Board of Education, all because of the alleged false accusations,
He additionally accuses Taylor, a Black woman, of making comments regarding him as white male. and that she would mistreat and condescend him.
Bendul is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Taylor and the board of education.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Fort Lee NJ BOE sued by former school security coordinator
