The Schools Development Authority has agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former employee, the latest financial cost for the agency in the fallout of a patronage scandal three years ago.
The agreement with Aaron Goss, a longtime employee who claimed he was wrongly included in a mass firing following the scandal, brings the cost of two settlement payouts by the authority to $900,000, with two other suits pending.
Goss, at the time a director at the authority, was fired in July 2019 along with 29 other employees, after independent reviews corroborated reporting by the USA TODAY Network of improper hiring under the former chief executive officer, Lizette Delgado-Polanco.
The reporting found many of the employees hired under Delgado-Polanco were associated with her, hired outside the agency's typical process or lacked qualifications for their positions. It led to independent investigations, agency reforms and the resignation of Delgado-Polanco, who was Gov. Phil Murphy's choice to lead the authority in charge of building schools in New Jersey's poorest districts.
But Goss and two others not linked to improper hiring — vice president Tom Schrum and records custodian Kristen MacLean — were also fired. MacLean, like Goss, sued the authority and her case is pending in court.
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For subscribers:Trouble for Schools Development Authority continues with new lawsuit in scandal fallout
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