Case Title: Meade v. Township of Livingston

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: new-jersey

Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Date: 2021-12-30T00:00:00Z

Document:
SYLLABUS

This syllabus is not part of the Court’s opinion. It has been prepared by the Office of the
Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the
Court. In the interest of brevity, portions of an opinion may not have been summarized.

            Michele Meade v. Township of Livingston (A-52-20) (085176)

Argued September 27, 2021 -- Decided December 30, 2021

FERNANDEZ-VINA, J., writing for a unanimous Court.

       In this appeal, the Court considers whether an employee’s claim that her
subordinate’s gender bias influenced her employer’s decision to terminate her, in
violation of the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), is sufficient to proceed to trial.

       Plaintiff Michele Meade served as Township Manager for Livingston Township
for eleven years, from 2005 until her termination in 2016 by Resolution of the Township
Council. The Council cited a number of performance areas in the Resolution. An area
central to this appeal was Meade’s supervision of Police Chief Craig Handschuch.

        One notable incident occurred on April 19, 2013, when pre-school teachers at the
Livingston Community Center observed a man dressed in camouflage, carrying a rifle
bag, in the parking lot. The classes went into lockdown and patrol cars were dispatched.
Handschuch and Sergeant Kenneth Hanna alerted the responders that the man was an
officer involved in a training exercise. Meade went to the Community Center during or
in the aftermath of the incident. On May 2, Hanna signed a complaint alleging that
Meade had violated  N.J.S.A. 2C:33-28 by using “unreasonably loud and offensive coarse
or abusive language” in addressing him. On May 31, Meade emailed a report to
Handschuch concluding that he and the unit conducting the training were responsible for
the incident. That same day, Hanna signed a second complaint against Meade, alleging
obstruction in violation of  N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1. Meade was acquitted of all charges in 2014.
Meanwhile, the record reflects ongoing concerns with Handschuch’s performance.

      Although it is not clear from the record what specifically prompted the remark,
Councilmember Michael Silverman testified that he said, at a meeting held at his home in
December 2014, that “Michele [Meade] would not be having this problem if her name
was Michael.” Other members of the Council were present at the meeting.

       Meade submits that Livingston’s labor attorney counseled her against taking
action against Handschuch while the criminal charges related to the training incident
were pending. Meade adds that, in late 2015, the labor attorney found Meade’s
documentation regarding the Chief’s performance likely sufficient to support disciplinary
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charges, but not termination, and suggested to Meade that she should “try to strengthen a
termination case” against the Chief via an independent, outside investigation.

        An email from Silverman following Handschuch’s failure to appear at meetings
called by the Council stated, “Bring [Chief Handschuch] up on charges, bring in an
investigator or do nothing. . . . [H]e is YOUR employee . . . .” Nevertheless, Meade
testified that certain members of the Council did not authorize hiring an investigator. In
addition, Meade filed a certification stating that “Councilman Al Anthony . . . suggested
to me that maybe Chief Handschuch did not like reporting to a woman and should report
to him as the Mayor instead,” a claim Anthony disputed in his deposition.

        In November 2016, the Council passed a Resolution removing Meade from her
position, citing “her failure to timely keep the Council informed as to issues concerning
the Township; her prioritization of budget items based upon her preferences rather than
the preferences of the Council; her lack of responsiveness to Township residents; her
failure to effectively pursue shared service agreements with other communities; and her
failure to effectively manage the Township’s employees.” Meade contests as false or
misleading the reasons cited for her dismissal, and argues that they were pretext.

        Meade filed a complaint asserting that she had been terminated based on her
gender in violation of the LAD. Specifically, Meade alleged that the Council terminated
her and replaced her with a male Manager “to appease the sexist male Police Chief.” The
trial court granted Livingston’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Meade was
terminated for poor work performance and that the record revealed no gender
discrimination in her termination. The Appellate Division affirmed, reasoning in part that
an outside investigation into the Chief was not mandatory because Meade had “authority
to discharge . . . the Chief.” The Court granted certification.  245 N.J. 591 (2021).

HELD: Here, sufficient evidence was present for a reasonable jury to find that what
Livingston Township Councilmembers perceived to be Police Chief Handschuch’s
discriminatory attitude toward Township Manager Meade influenced the Council’s
decision to terminate her, in violation of the LAD. Accordingly, the Court reverses the
grant of summary judgment and remands this matter for trial.

1. To analyze employment discrimination claims brought under the LAD, New Jersey
has adopted the procedural burden-shifting methodology set forth in McDonnell Douglas
Corp. v. Green,