ENGLISHTOWN -- On the first day Englishtown municipal clerk Gretchen McCarthy was back from disability leave, she was fired during the Borough Council’s reorganization meeting.
The reason? McCarthy had not completed a background check into herself as a requirement to retain her job, according to the minutes of a meeting on Jan. 10, 2023. Former councilman and current mayor Daniel Francisco made the motion; former Councilman William Lewis seconded it; and former Councilwomen Meaghan Lewis and Cecilia Robilotti voted for McCarthy’s termination.
But the background check request came about a year after she was hired as deputy municipal clerk in May 2021 and after a promotion to municipal clerk and registrar of Vital Statistics, according to a lawsuit she filed in November 2023 against Englishtown and former Police Chief Peter Cooke Jr.
The background check would have required that she divulge sensitive information such as scars and birthmarks and sign authorizations for the release of health care records, among other information.
In the lawsuit, McCarthy said the real reason...
By Matthew Knott and Nick Bonyhady April 19, 2025 — 5.54pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any tim...