Long Hill sidelines NJ's first Muslim police chief, alleges he may be 'hazard' on the job

Long Hill officials placed Police Chief Ahmed Naga on paid administrative leave Thursday, six weeks after the chief filed court papers alleging that township officials had harassed him due to his religion and created a hostile work environment.

New Jersey's first Muslim police chief alleged in his tort claim that Deputy Mayor Guy Piserchia questioned if had ties to the Taliban at a 2021 9/11 memorial event. Naga also alleges that Committeeman Victor Verlezza twice referred to the chief indirectly with an obscene phrase offensive to both Blacks and Arab Muslims in a committee meeting on Dec. 7, 2021.

Mayor Matthew Dorsi confirmed the committee took its action to put the chief on leave — the latest in its long-running conflict with Naga — after deliberating in closed session during its regular meeting on Wednesday. They also named Lt. Alexis Ciambriello as officer in charge "until further notice."

Dorsi declined to comment further about the action, citing privacy over personnel matters. But a letter to Naga from township labor attorney James Prusinowski states the committee took action "pursuant to information derived from a personnel investigation into your compliance with township policies and procedures."

The letter states that "appropriate authorities" have assessed that Naga "may be a hazard to yourself or others if you remain on the job" and directs him to turn in all his work and personal weapons, his township vehicle and township communication devices. It also advises the township will schedule a fitness-for-duty examination that Naga will be required to attend.

Meanwhile, Naga is prohibited from entering town property, including the police department, and cannot contact police department staff, township employees or committee members.

Naga's attorney, Patrick Toscano, responded to Prusinowski with a letter stating the township's actions are "not only unwarranted and illegal," but were "clearly taken in direct retaliation" for Naga's tort claim, filed on Sept. 29.

The tort claim names Dorsi, Piserchia, Verlezza, committeemen Scott Lavendar and Brendan Rae, township attorney Jack Pidgeon, administrator Nancy Malool and CFO Randy Bahr as defendants. It further alleges acts or omissions to have caused Naga "injury or property damage" including "stress/emotional strain, defamation, intentional interference with prospective economic damage, intentional infliction of emotional distress, discrimination and negligence."

More:NJ's first Muslim police chief claims years of discrimination by Long Hill officials

Toscano described their decision to place Naga on leave as another example of Long Hill Township's "warped ethnic discriminatory mindset." He also restated Naga's intent to sue.

Naga joined the force as a patrol officer on July 1, 2003, and was named chief in 2018. By September 2019, Naga had filed complaints to the committee alleging instances of hostile work environment related to Malool, a former mayor of Scotch Plains, who he said repeatedly referred to him as "Mahatma Naga," the tort claim states.

The conflicts between the committee and Naga continued in private, as email chains obtained by the Daily Record indicate. Some of those emails document requests from Malool to contract and expedite a study of the police department by an outside consultant.

The conflicts frequently carried over into public meetings where the two sides argued about matters including police manpower, whether the county emergency communications system was able to overcome dead spots in the township, and reimbursing the chief for an $820 purchase of office furniture.

Naga's tort claim was filed after the committee's vote to reprimand him for "failure to comply with appropriate authority directives" at a special meeting on Sept. 16.

Dorsi responded to the tort claim with a statement that the "committee members state collectively that they abhor and reject any form of discrimination, whether it be based on religion, race, gender or age, and we equally abhor any attempt to manipulate public perception based on unfounded accusations of the same."

"Chief Naga's displeasure with the township committee and the township administrator and staff has been well-documented in print and video over the past several months," the statement reads. "We reject Chief Naga's accusations of racism as baseless, and we believe it has been orchestrated as an attempt to obstruct the township committee from its responsibility of oversight regarding the operations and finances of the Long Hill Police Department."

Dorsi's statement noted Naga filed another tort claim in 2019 involving former Township Committee members and said it was "dismissed as being without merit."

Naga did not name names during a speech at this year's 9/11 memorial at the Shrine of St. Joseph, but shared some of the indignities he has encountered on the job.

"As ironic as it may seem, on this date a year ago, standing in uniform in the shadow of a 9/11 memorial, I was approached and questioned based on my religious choice and ethnic classification if I had any affiliation with the terrorist group called the Taliban," Naga spoke from the pulpit.

"I share this very personal matter not to startle you or to receive your pity, but to make clear that casual racism is among us and, no pun intended, doesn't discriminate whether you are chief of police or an average civilian," Naga said. "I stand before you today and commit there's a lot of work ahead of us."

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Long Hill puts first Muslim police chief on leave as 'hazard'