Ousted Professors Must Be Rehired At Morris Co. College, Ruling Says

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Five former faculty members at the County College of Morris have had their positions reinstated after being unlawfully fired in April 2021 in retaliation for protected union activity, a new state ruling said.

The five professors were also falsely implicated in an alleged vandalism probe, causing a police encounter that the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) labeled "extreme and problematic" in its findings.

On Sept. 19, PERC issued a 72-page ruling stating that the college must offer the professors their jobs back, along with the salary, benefits, employment responsibilities and eligibility for tenure consideration that they had prior to their non-renewal.

The judgment did not specify the specific sums but stated that the five employees would be eligible for all of their accrued leave time and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses that would otherwise have been paid by employer-provided healthcare coverage, beginning in April 2021.

According to the ruling, the five professors — James Capozzi, Geoff Peck, Mark Schmidt, Robb Lauzon and Anastasia Kilhaney — were all faculty union officials or had ties to the union before losing their positions.

Capozzi served as the president of the Faculty Association of the County College of Morris from 2019 until June 30, 2021.

In 2021, the union filed an unfair practice charge against the school, stating that they had violated the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act when they allegedly sent nontenured faculty members notices that they would not be reappointed to their faculty positions for the 2021–2022 academic year in retaliation for their union activity.

The union also claims that CCM President Anthony J. Iacono called the police and accused the association's communications chair of vandalism, saying that the tires of a cart on his property had been slashed. Iacono named four of the fired professors as persons of interest, prompting the police to contact each of these association members for questioning.

Iacono’s report to the police was "an even more extreme example of CCM’s hostility towards the association’s protected activities," the PERC ruling said.

According to the police report of the incident, Iacono had told police that he had “recently laid off employees and received an email from the teachers union” where they advised him there would be "consequences" for his actions.

However, the union states that their email in fact urged CCM to consider the “consequences of undermining the faculty, who are a cornerstone of this institution and its mission.”

"There is no threat of vandalism or any other criminal activity at Iacono’s family home mentioned or even inferred in the April 16 email," the PERC ruling states. "The details of this entire police incident are so extreme and problematic, especially because the police report itself raises questions about whether the alleged tire slashing occurred at all."

According to the ruling, the college's reasons for not rehiring the five instructors varied over time. CCM first claimed decreased enrollment and a high ratio of tenured to nontenured faculty members as reasons for non-renewals. Then, on May 12, 2021, CCM noted the need for flexibility, decreased enrollment, the ratio of tenured to non-tenured faculty members, and teachers in the impacted departments teaching fewer credit hours.

Finally, Iacono mentioned decreased enrollment and the 1200 credit hour ratio on July 16, 2021.

In its ruling on Sept. 19, PERC disagreed with Iacono's public comments that the faculty members were fired due to financial difficulties at the college, notably a reduction in enrollment, rather than their union involvement.

"If Iacono had testified, he could have addressed the issue of why CCM’s cited reasons evolved over time, and he could have addressed each of the cited reasons substantively. However, given that Iacono did not testify, I draw a negative inference regarding CCM’s evolving explanation for the association non-renewals," the ruling states.

PERC remarked that, in terms of decreasing enrollment, it is unclear why CCM would offer this as an explanation, considering that CCM was not in financial trouble at the time of the non-renewals.

Iacono addressed the College Council on Nov. 19, 2020, and indicated that CCM was in a "very solid position" financially and did not expect the need to reduce staffing, despite the fact that CCM had been coping with declining enrollment since 2017.

"Again, the ratio of tenured to non-tenured faculty, the need for flexibility, the 1200 credit hour ratio, and why each were used for the first time to justify the association non-renewals were all important issues for Iacono to address, but he did not testify," the ruling said.

The union issued this statement in response to Iacono's absence from the legal determination and throughout the decision. "Morris County has every reason to be embarrassed by your proven commitment to unethical actions that promote fear, hostility, and intimidation in our community’s schools."

Capozzi is a former member of the association and a former assistant professor at CCM who was employed in the English and Philosophy Department. His Faculty Evaluation Reports from 2018 through 2021 rated him as “excellent” in each of the four categories.

Peck is a former member of the association and a former assistant professor at CCM who was employed in the English and Philosophy Department. He served as the Chair of the Association’s Grievance Committee from Feb. 4, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

Lauzon is a former member of the association and a former assistant professor at CCM who was employed in the Communication Department. He served as the Chair of the Association’s Communications Committee from Jan. 2020 to June 30, 2021. Lauzon’s Faculty Evaluation Reports from 2019 through 2021 rated him as “excellent” in each of the four categories.

Kilhaney is a former member of the association and a former assistant professor at CCM who was employed in the Biology and Chemistry Department.

Lesce is a former member of the association and a former instructor at CCM who was employed in the Languages and ESL Department. Her Faculty Evaluation Reports from 2020 through 2021 rated her as “excellent” in each of the four categories.

"I can't thank all the supporters enough. Tony tried to break our union because we were strong. But with this long overdue verdict and the continued fight from our members and supporters, he's only made our union stronger," Peck said in response to the ruling.