A jury has awarded former Trenton Police Director Sheilah Coley $4,714,000 in her wrongful termination lawsuit against the city, her lawyer confirmed Wednesday, according to Newsweek. The total includes $714,000 in back pay, $2 million for emotional damages and $2 million in punitive damages, following a legal battle that stretched back to her abrupt 2021 ouster from the department she once led.
Coley’s attorney, Jon Green, announced the verdict Wednesday, telling reporters the jury reached its decision after weighing years of claims about what happened inside the Trenton Police Department during Coley’s tenure, according to The Trentonian. Coley was hired by Mayor W. Reed Gusciora in 2019 and was described in that report as the first Black woman to lead the Trenton Police Department. Newsweek, which also covered the verdict, reported that Coley was the first Black police director of a New Jersey city, according to Newsweek.
Coley filed her wrongful termination lawsuit in 2022, naming the City of Trenton, Gusciora and City Councilman George Muschal as defendants, per Newsweek. In it, she alleged racial and gender discrimination and retaliation after she refused to give preferential treatment to white police officers. Specifically, Coley claimed she was pressured to reinstate multiple white male officers who were under investigation over civilian deaths in police custody, and that Gusciora undermined her decision to block a white detective’s return to active duty following a federal perjury conviction.
Allegations of Pressure From a Councilman
According to the lawsuit, Coley alleged that Gusciora pressured her to accommodate Councilman Muschal’s requests to favor white officers and applicants for positions within the department. Coley said those requests involved overlooking violations of law, rules, regulations or public policy, Newsweek reported. Her suit also claimed she faced racist or sexist opposition for decisions that similar white male colleagues made without the same backlash.
The lawsuit further contrasted Coley’s own swift dismissal with the treatment of white male colleagues accused of more serious offenses, who she claimed remained on the city payroll while awaiting pensions or searching for other jobs. Coley also alleged she pushed back against a request from Gusciora to share departmental documents with a member of the press. Two days after that pushback, Newsweek reported, Gusciora’s chief of staff and the city attorney informed Coley she was being fired. In a text message cited in the lawsuit, Coley wrote, “I may be too honest for this position.”
Conflicting Accounts of the Firing Date
A contemporaneous announcement from Peterson’s Breaking News of Trenton stated that, effective June 9, 2021, Coley would no longer serve as director, a date also reported by NJ.com. That 2021 announcement quoted Gusciora praising Coley, saying her “efforts to increase accountability, modernize law enforcement technology, and diversify the TPD command staff have been commendable.” He also said his administration had decided to move in a different direction, according to Newsweek.
The Trenton City Council later voted 6-1 to uphold Gusciora’s decision to remove Coley, according to NJ.com’s coverage of the lawsuit, which reported the vote occurred on June 24, 2021. City officials offered a starkly different explanation for her departure than the one laid out in her lawsuit: NJ.com reported that the decision was based on performance and no other external factors, rather than the retaliation Coley alleged.
City Reviewing the Verdict
Mayor Gusciora said the city is reviewing Wednesday’s verdict and evaluating its options for post-trial remedies, according to Newsweek. Gusciora also said Coley prevailed only on a claim brought under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, and that her separate race- and sex-discrimination claims were dismissed. Newsweek reported it contacted the Trenton mayor’s office and Coley’s attorney by email Thursday seeking additional comment.
The case echoes a similar employment dispute elsewhere in New Jersey. In Hudson County, a jury awarded a former Union City police officer at least $853,000 in his own discrimination case after less than a day of deliberations in September, according to Hudson County View. For now, it remains unclear whether Trenton will appeal Coley’s verdict or what post-trial remedies the city might pursue.
