A township in Essex County has fired back at its chief financial officer’s lawsuit, claiming unprofessional, “boorish behavior” in the workplace is not a violation of state whistleblower laws meant to protect employees from retaliatory acts.

Padmaja Rao, chief financial officer for Montclair, alleges in court papers that Township Administrator Timothy Stafford verbally abused her, bullied her, and engaged repeatedly in “demeaning and derogatory behaviors” toward her and other female department heads.

Rao claims after she discovered flaws in how Montclair government operates, Stafford and others in the administration retaliated against her. On Sept. 26, in “an adverse employment action,” Rao was removed from the township’s finance committee, the suit alleges.

In her suit, Rao’s says her treatment on the job in Montclair violated the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Act and the state’s Law Against Discrimination.

In a motion to dismiss the suit filed on Nov. 23, Montclair’s attorneys say the instances of unprofessional behavior cited in Rao’s lawsuit are not protected under New Jersey’s whistleblower laws, known as CEPA.

“While plaintiff makes allegations of workplace disagreements that may even constitute unprofessional conduct or boorish behavior, it simply is not actionable as a matter of law under CEPA or LAD,” the motion states.

“Moreover, any alleged ‘prejudiced and boorish’ language or ‘obnoxious, cruel, and un-American’ behavior is insufficient ‘adverse employment...

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