New public safety director named in 2 NJ discrimination lawsuits

Feb. 15—Glynn County's new public safety director is accused in two New Jersey civil court cases with other New Jersey State Police administrators of cronyism and gender discrimination when promoting officers during his time in a leadership role with the agency.

Scott Ebner, who was hired Feb. 7 to take the role of public safety director overseeing the Glynn County Police Department and Glynn County Fire Department, is named in lawsuits along with other men in leadership positions with the New Jersey State Police alleging they used subjective rather than objective measures to choose who was promoted and when rather than basing those decisions on merit.

Ebner has since retired from the New Jersey State Police and is set to begin in his new role in March.

Glynn County Manager Bill Fallon said he and the county administration involved in hiring Ebner were aware of the lawsuits when Ebner was hired, but that plenty of due diligence was done before the decision was made.

"As with other new hires for Glynn County, our Human Resources Department conducted a vetting process which includes application verification, a criminal history check, motor vehicle check, the interview path, as well as reference interviews," Fallon said in a statement Tuesday. "In addition, we have contracted with an outside vendor, Background Profiles, to conduct a deeper dive into Mr. Ebner's background, which is commonly done by Glynn County on other higher level positions."

Fallon said Ebner was named in the lawsuits as a leader of the agency, as is common when an organization is involved in litigation.

"An example of this would be the naming of each of the Board of Commissioners when Glynn County is part of a legal suit, regardless of their role in the issue."

A case filed in December 2021 by four women names Ebner, who was serving as a lieutenant colonel with the New Jersey State Police, along with the acting state police superintendent and another lieutenant colonel in a lawsuit accusing the state police of discriminating against women. The suit claims that the women were passed over for promotions or transferred starting in 2017 and that men were promoted instead. The lawsuit alleges that the New Jersey State Police has a long history of gender discrimination and alleges Ebner and the other two men in top leadership of the state police continued the behavior by denying their promotions based on their gender.

Filings on behalf of Ebner and the other administrators seeking to dismiss the case deny any wrongdoing and claim the plaintiffs fail to show that the state police leadership violated an established statutory or constitutional right.

Another case, filed by a male officer in October 2021, claims Ebner and the same two other top administrators of the New Jersey State Police retaliated against him by denying him promotions and transferring him to unwanted positions. The officer claims that behavior began after the officer, who the lawsuit claims suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, spoke out about his belief that he was discriminated against because of his disability.

Ebner and his attorneys at Lite DePalma, Greenberg and Afanador have denied any wrongdoing in a response to the complaint filed in New Jersey, saying that he was acting within the rules and policies of the department at the time and that any action taken by Ebner as it pertained to the plaintiff's employment were based on reasonable factors and were not discriminatory or retaliatory in nature.

Both cases are still active in the New Jersey court system after more than a year of legal wrangling via filings and motions seeking to dismiss the case and others in opposition to the motions.

Ebner declined to comment on the matters because they are ongoing court cases.

Fallon said the county will continue to monitor the litigation but that the cases have no impact on Ebner's ability to do the job he has been hired to do.

"We are happy to have him join our staff here at Glynn County and know he will be effective in his new position and will bring the executive leadership needed for all the departments he will oversee," Fallon said.