January 20, 2025
By: John Paff of Transparency, NJ and Chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project.
ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–Transparency New Jersey reported that in a confidential agreement dated November 15, 2024, the Robbinsville Board of Education (Mercer County, NJ) agreed to pay $115,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a 63-year-old former high school nurse who alleged age discrimination in her termination.
In her September 2023 lawsuit, Ruthann Jennings claimed that she received an April 6, 2023 termination notice from former Superintendent Bryan Betze, effective June 30, 2023. The notice cited a reduction in force due to budget cuts. Jennings said that she requested an explanation and was informed that her name had been placed on the reduction list by school administrators and later approved by Betze. Jenning said that she began her employment with the Robbinsville Board as a nurse on September 1, 2019.
According to Jennings’ lawsuit, three younger, less experienced nurses with fewer certifications were retained, even though selecting any one of them for termination instead of her would have resulted in greater cost savings for the district. Jennings argued that her termination constituted age discrimination in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Of the $115,000 total settlement, $82,000 was issued directly to Jennings with the remaining $33,000 going to her attorney. According to the settlement, both Jennings and school officials agreed not to make disparaging statements about each other and Jennings agreed that her employment with the Board is permanently severed and that she will not seek future employment with the school district. The Board agreed that when contacted by Jennings’ prospective employers, it will provide only the dates of Jennings’ employment and her last position.
The case is captioned Ruthann Jennings, R.N. v. Robbinsville Board of Education, Docket No. MER-L-1787-23 and Jennings; attorney was Thaddeus P. Mikulski, Jr. of Pennington. The lawsuit and settlement agreement are in a combined, tabbed PDF file available on-line here.
The settlement agreement contains a confidentiality clause preventing the parties from publicly discussing the terms. However, these clauses cannot override the public’s right to access government-related settlement agreements under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA).
On Friday, January 17, 2025, Robbinsville Board of Education President Peter Oehlberg, Current Superintendent Patrick Pizzo, Defendant’s attorney Regina Mckenna Philipps, and Plaintiff’s attorney Thaddeus P. Mikulski, Jr. were all contacted for comments; however, none provided a response except for Miulski who responded “no comment.”
It is important to note that none of the allegations in Jennings’ lawsuit have been proven or disproven in court. The settlement agreement explicitly states that the Robbinsville Board of Education denies all allegations of wrongdoing, asserting that the settlement was reached solely to avoid the costs of litigation.
The reasons behind the Board’s decision to settle remain speculative. It could have been a strategic move to save on further legal expenses or to avoid the risks of a trial over potentially exaggerated or meritless claims. Alternatively, the Board may have sought to prevent public embarrassment or reputational damage if the claims were valid. This uncertainty underscores the inherent difficulty of discerning the full truth in cases resolved outside of court.
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