Police Sgts. Raymond McNamara and Brian Dumont filed a suit against Bordentown Township (in 2000), claiming the Township Committee violated age-discrimination laws.
By: Scott Morgan
A 4-year-old age-discrimination lawsuit filed against Bordentown Township by two former township police officers was recently settled in state Superior Court for an undisclosed amount of money.
The Dec. 8 settlement resolves a case that dates back to November 2000, when police Sgts. Raymond McNamara and Brian Dumont filed a suit against Bordentown Township, claiming the Township Committee violated age-discrimination laws as well as a state Department of Personnel stricture known as the "Rule of Three" when it promoted then-Sgt. Frank Nucera to the position of police lieutenant, ahead of Sgts. McNamara and Dumont.
According to the DOP, the Rule of Three refers to how civil service employees may be promoted based on the results of standardized state tests. Based on the Rule of Three, an agency, such as a police department, may promote anyone who finishes first, second or third in an open exam unless a military veteran (with preference given to disabled and combat vets) finishes first. In that event, the veteran would have to be promoted first.
In 1998, the township Police Department sought to fill two lieutenant spots; four officers Sgts. McNamara, Dumont, Frank Nucera, and Danny Kiernan took the exam in February of that year. Then-Sgt. Kiernan, who is not a military veteran, scored highest, negating the Rule of Three’s veteran provision.
According to the original complaint, filed by attorney, Frank Crivelli of Trenton in November 2000, Sgt. McNamara ranked second, Lt. Nucera third and Sgt. Dumont fourth in their exam scores. Based on those rankings, the Township Committee promoted then-Sgts. Kiernan (now chief of police) and Nucera to lieutenant.
However, according to the complaint, things took a complicated turn in April 2000 when, based on a change to the exam key, the DOP announced that it had flipped the rankings of Sgt. Dumont and Lt. Nucera, who now were ranked three and four, respectively.
According to the complaint, the sergeants sued the city later that year, claiming that, based on the new rankings, Lt. Nucera should be demoted and replaced with either Sgt. McNamara or Sgt. Dumont. Though Lt. Nucera served in the U.S. Air Force, he is not a combat vet, as are Sgts. McNamara and Dumont. Both served in Vietnam.
The complaint stated that the Township Committee rejected the idea, sticking to its 1998 position that it would not promote Sgt. McNamara, then 53, and Sgt. Dumont, then 54, "due to their older age (the Township Committee members) were therefore concerned with having to go through the entire hiring process again in a few years."
Frank Nucera, 41, remains a lieutenant. Sgt. McNamara and Sgt. Dumont are now retired and living, respectively, in Vermont and Trenton. None of the members of the 1998 Township Committee sit on the current Township Committee.
The settlement, reached on Dec. 8, has been sealed by Superior Court Judge Marc Baldwin in Mount Holly. As a result, both Mr. Crivelli and Richard Goldstein, the township’s Cherry Hill-based attorney in the McNamara/Dumont matter, could not comment on the case.
"I really can’t comment," said Mr. Goldstein said. "I wish I could."
Judge Baldwin did not return calls to the Register-News regarding this story.
Neither Mr. McNamara nor Mr. Dumont could be reached for comment.

