Palisades Park ex-deputy administrator was fired for not being Korean, lawsuit says

PALISADES PARK — A second federal lawsuit was filed against the borough, mayor and three council members by a former employee who accused them of retaliation and discrimination.

Austin Ashley was terminated from his position as the deputy administrator in January. He was also the public works director from 2019 until February 23, 2024, when he resigned.

Ashley alleges he was terminated as retaliation for not supporting a Democratic councilman and not agreeing with the mayor during the November 2023 election. The lawsuit also states Ashley was discriminated against and removed from his position because he is not Korean.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the United States District Court of New Jersey against Palisades Park, Mayor Chong "Paul" Kim, Councilman Suk "John" Min, Councilwoman Stephanie Jang and Councilman Jae Park.

Leading up to the 2023 election, members of the Palisades Park Democratic Club placed duct tape over Min's name on campaign signs to indicate the withdrawal of its endorsement. Ashley is the treasurer of the club and also put duct tape over Min's name.

More: Former Palisades Park councilwoman sues borough for releasing hot mic conversation

Ashley also changed the name of the Facebook account for the candidate to: "Paul Kim should not be the Mayor" and posted a comment that read "Don't vote for Suk "John" Min He isn't good."

"To retaliate against plaintiff for his exercise of his political speech, expression, and association Mayor Kim and Councilman Min conspired and otherwise acted in concert with each other to improperly and unjustifiably alter the terms of plaintiff’s employment as deputy borough administrator of the borough," the lawsuit claims.

A similar suit was filed in November by then-borough administrator Dave Lorenzo after he was placed on administrative leave and later terminated.

Lorenzo amended his lawsuit last month to add Jang and Park as defendants and to include additional discrimination counts.

Attorney Richard Malagiere is representing both Ashley and Lorenzo.

"The plaintiffs allege that they were pushed out of their jobs because they dared campaign against Mayor Paul Kim’s political ally and co-conspirator Councilman Suk Min," Malagiere said. "Additionally, the plaintiffs allege that Councilwoman Stephanie Jang and Councilman Jae Park used the mayor’s political retaliation scheme to further their goal of national origin cleansing among the employee ranks at the borough. The plaintiffs look forward to exposing these illegal schemes to a jury in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey."

Borough Attorney Allan Roth did not respond to a request for comment.

Both men claim in their lawsuits that during their employment with the borough, they were subjected to discriminatory actions based on their race.

"(Ashley) understood that defendants believed that Palisades Park has become a “Korean town” and that its government should be managed by someone of Korean extraction and heritage rather than someone of Irish American extraction and heritage like him," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuits also list examples dating back from 2020 to 2023 when Lorenzo was approached by Kim and Jang and Park stating that Korean members wanted Lorenzo to retire to replace him with a Korean.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Palisades Park NJ employee claims retaliation, discrimination in suit