While Union County authorities have charged Newark fire Capt. Anthony Graves with impersonating a police officer, Newark officials are calling on a judge to throw out his whistleblower lawsuit against the city and various municipal officials.
In a motion filed in Essex County to dismiss the complaint, the city rejects Graves's allegations of racial discrimination and asserts Graves has failed to allege an act of retaliation to support a whistleblower claim under the state's Conscientious Employee Protection Act, or CEPA.
Graves has claimed the acts of retaliation include when municipal officials placed him on restricted duty and then transferred him twice, according to the lawsuit he filed in Essex County Superior Court in October.
But Newark officials argue those actions do not constitute adverse or retaliatory employment actions under CEPA, in large part because Graves was not demoted and did not experience a reduction in pay, according to a brief filed by the city to support the motion.
Graves, who is African-American, claims he suffered racial discrimination, but the city countered that his latest transfer involved more than 20 captains of various ethnic and racial backgrounds.