Former N.J. school superintendent sues after being revealed as 'mystery pooper'

The New Jersey superintendent who admitted to defecating on school grounds has filed a lawsuit, claiming that the release of his mugshot ended his career and prevented him from otherwise receiving potential benefits and compensation tied to his job.

Thomas W. Tramaglini, who once headed Kenilworth Public Schools, sued the township of Holmdel on Tuesday, according to the New York Post.

"Tramaglini will never achieve the level of compensation, benefits, and retirement pension income that he otherwise [would] if the unlawfully taken photographs of him had not been released into the media to satisfy the prurient interests of certain members of Holmdel Township Police Department and others they conspired with," the lawsuit states.

The so-called "Pooperintendent of Schools" was arrested last May for doing his business underneath the bleachers at Holmdel High School. Tramaglini later pleaded guilty in October, although his attorney Matthew Adams maintained at the time that his client suffered from Runner's diarrhea — a condition characterized by frequent bowel movement during a run.

Adams also fought back against accusations that Tramaglini had, in fact, defecated several times on campus before.

"There's no evidence he was ever a serial offender," Tramaglini's lawyer said during an interview with NJ.com last year. "We were ready to go to trial on some of the allegations about certain dates with GPS evidence from his Garmin running watch."

In his lawsuit, Tramaglini asserts that he should have only faced lesser charges of littering and public defecation rather than being booked. The former school chief says that the mugshot taken of him following his arrest led to bad publicity and, ultimately, cost him his job.

"[Tramaglini] was forced to step down from his position as Superintendent of the Kenilworth Public Schools, ending his twenty-year career in public education, even before a disposition of the charges he faced, due to the negative media attention his case received," the suit claims.