CAPE MAY – Superior Court Judge James Pickering Jr., May 1, dismissed a lawsuit against the city brought by former Cape May City employee Daniel Shustack.
Shustack brought litigation against the city, Mayor Zachary Mullock, and former Deputy Mayor Stacy Sheehan. The judge dismissed the suit without prejudice, meaning the person who brought the action can refile within a specified time period.
In the action, Shustack, formerly the qualified purchasing agent and network administrator for the city from 2014 to 2021, alleged that his termination of employment with the city was not voluntary but rather amounted to constructive discharge following a period of harassment and hostility.
In 2020, Shustack was one of six employees who received two bonus distributions from the city’s affordable housing trust fund. This happened as the city was engaged in municipal elections in which Mullock challenged then-Mayor Clarence Lear.
Sheehan also ran for reelection to the council that both she and Mullock sat on as council members. In his suit, Shustack claimed that he refused to support Mullock’s campaign and that he spoke out about false claims that Mullock and Sheehan made regarding the city budget.
Shustack also stated that he was made to feel like a criminal regarding what he claimed Mullock and Sheehan called the “misappropriation of funds belonging to the city.”
He accused the city and the two governing body members of “concocting” an unlawful scheme to remove him and other individuals from public employment with false criminal allegations.
Referenced prominently in the filings was a March 4, 2021, Cape May Sentinel article entitled, “City Investigates $100k in Bonus Checks,” an article Shustack alleged contained leaked council closed session discussions.
Shustack resigned his position in Cape May Sept. 7, 2021. He immediately started a full-time job with Cape May County, which he held until January 2023, when he was hired as the deputy chief financial officer for Middle Township.
Shustack commenced his action against Cape May, Mullock, and Sheehan July 19, 2022. He noted in court filings that he had been “falsely painted as a criminal to the public, family, and friends.”
The court dismissed the suit on legal grounds that Shustack had failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
At the May 2 Cape May City Council meeting, Sheehan used the public comment period to say it was “nice that the judge dismissed the suit,” a statement that may have been the first knowledge some residents had concerning the case.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
