Muslim Police Chief Claims Years Of Discrimination In Morris Co., Lawyer Says

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A legal battle is brewing between Long Hill officials and New Jersey's first Muslim police chief, with allegations including a committeeman questioning the chief's ties to the Taliban at a 9/11 memorial event in 2021.

Ahmed Naga, chief of the Long Hill Township Police Department, claimed he has endured ongoing and repeated acts of harassment, discrimination, heightened scrutiny and a hostile work environment, according to a notice of tort claim filed with the township by his attorney.

These acts have caused "irreparable career damage," Naga said.

Naga filed the tort claim, or intent to sue, against several Long Hill officials following the township committee's decision to reprimand Naga at a special meeting on Sept. 16 for "failure to comply with appropriate authority directives."

The tort claim names Mayor Matthew Dorsi, Deputy Mayor Guy Piserchia, Committeemen Scott Lavendar, Victor Verlezza and Brendan Rae, Township Attorney Jack Pidgeon, Administrator Nancy Malool and Chief Financial Officer Randy Bahr.

It claims that these individuals' acts or omissions resulted in Naga's "injury or property damage," including "stress/emotional strain, defamation, intentional interference with prospective economic damage, intentional infliction of emotional distress, discrimination and negligence."

These actions allegedly included Piserchia asking Naga "if I was a member of the Taliban" in front of numerous witnesses at a commemoration of Sept. 11, 2021, according to the tort claim.

On Dec. 7, 2021, Councilman Victor Verlezza allegedly made a crude and racist remark about Muslims during a phone call with Naga, the tort claim states.

On April 27, 2021, meeting in the chief’s office with two members of the committee and an assistant, another racist comment was allegedly made by Piserchia, the claim alleges.

This week, Long Hill officials responded to the tort claim with a statement that the "committee members state collectively that they abhor and reject any form of discrimination, whether it be based on religion, race, gender or age, and we equally abhor any attempt to manipulate public perception based on unfounded accusations of the same."

The statement also mentions that Naga had previously brought a tort claim involving former Township Committee members in 2019 and claimed it was "dismissed as being without merit."

"We reject Chief Naga's accusations of racism as baseless, and we believe it has been orchestrated as an attempt to obstruct the Township Committee from its responsibility of oversight regarding the operations and finances of the Long Hill Police Department," the statement reads. "It saddens us that our small town has to endure such politically charged tactics designed to divide and distract our residents during an election season. We assure the public that the Township Committee will not be deterred from performing its duty, and we state unequivocally that no Township employee or public servant is above accountability."

Naga, 44, has been chief since August 2018. Before his promotion, he served as a lieutenant in the police department for more than 19 years, according to his LinkedIn page.

In order to address his working conditions and other family issues that he claims were brought on by his job, Naga claims he has been attending weekly therapy sessions with a licensed professional counselor.

Despite the pressure, the chief states in the tort claim notice that "this in no way has interfered with my ability to perform my full police function."