Edison Sues Employee Who Filed Lawsuit Alleging Hostile Workplace

EDISON, NJ — The Township of Edison has sued a former employee who had filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging workplace harassment, retaliation and discrimination.

Edison is suing Anthony DeAmorin for fraud and unjust enrichment alleging he received wages and benefits without actually providing the services, according to the lawsuit.

DeAmorin, who served as a special assistant to former Mayor Tom Lankey had earlier filed a lawsuit alleging that Mayor Sam Joshi’s administration fired him because he supported Republican Keith Hahn during the mayoral campaign.

On Jan. 14, 2021, DeAmorin was offered a part-time position as Special Assistant to then-mayor Lankey, with a salary of $12,000 according to the lawsuit by Edison.

While serving as Special Assistant, DeAmorin “did not perform services for the Township commensurate with his receipt of pay and benefits” and “treated his position as a ‘no-show’ job,” the lawsuit alleges.

When Mayor Joshi was sworn in On January 2022, DeAmorin was offered another position – as Media Assistant. The position was a full-time, non-union with an annual salary of $40,000, according to the suit.

On March 8 DeAmorin accepted the job position and on March 16 he had a meeting with the township's Business Administrator and HR to discuss his “failure to punch in and out of work and his reporting requirements.”

The township alleges that even after the meeting, DeAmorin “continued his failure to report to his superiors, punch in and out of work, and overall continued his job abandonment."

As a result, “he was terminated as a probationary Media Assistant for the Township due to job abandonment, negligence of duty, and insubordination,” the suit said.

The township said it suffered “substantial damages” as DeAmorin continued to collect his pay and benefits without providing services to the township.

“Mayor Joshi has changed the culture and made it clear that his administration has a zero tolerance policy toward anyone trying to take advantage of Edison taxpayers, whether that means corporations trying to flaunt the law or employees unethically exploiting their positions,” an Edison Township spokesperson told Patch.

“While the Township does not comment on specific personnel issues, the Joshi administration will continue to take decisive action to protect Edison taxpayers and will vigorously defend itself against frivolous lawsuits and false accusations.”

The township is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and consequential damages.

In a statement to Patch, DeAmorin said the mayor was targeting him by using tax payer dollars to "fight political and personal vendettas."

Their claims are outright insulting and I will defend myself and my time served as special assistant. My record speaks for itself. Not to mention it was a part-time position but more than full-time hours and effort were put in. And now they are trying to discredit and water down many achievements I earned during that time," DeAmorin said.

"And my short time spent under this current administration was a disaster from the start that was fueled by their vindictive and retaliatory efforts. The people should be made aware of how their local government operates more like mob bosses than government officials."