District involved in two lawsuits over comp time
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The Board of Education has filed a lawsuit against former Business Administrator Marshall Sigall alleging he wrongly claimed compensatory days.

Former acting Superintendent Geri Margin, meanwhile, has filed action against the board to receive payment for compensatory days she says is owed her.

The board filed the suit against Sigall on Oct. 24 in state Superior Court in New Brunswick. An employee of the district from Nov. 27, 2000, until his retirement on June 30, 2007, Sigall had received payment for vacation days and compensatory days, which the school board says are not recognized as part of his contract. He had served as the school business administrator and board secretary.

The suit states that around May, 2006, the former superintendent of schools, Robert Rimmer, was told that the accumulation and use of comp days was not allowed, and that Sigall was present during that discussion. The lawsuit alleges that Sigall continued to use comp days in lieu of his contractually provided vacation days. Superintendent Brian Zychowski said there are a "significant" number of days in question.

"Our position is that the days we think they are talking about, that were accrued by my client, Marshall Sigall, were before any discussion conducted with the former superintendent," said attorney Francis J. Campbell of the Reussille law firm in Red Bank. He also said that the board did not clearly define "compensatory" days in their suit, which allows for a vague interpretation.

The Board of Education is suing Sigall for breach of contract, fraud, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The district is seeking compensatory damages that were already awarded, punitive damages, interest, attorney's fees and costs of suit.

Margin, on the other hand, is suing the board in order to receive over $17,000 worth of payments she says are owed. She filed a claim on Oct. 19 in Superior Court for 23.8 unused vacation days, at the rate of $561.61 per day, and 140.5 accumulated but unused sick days, at a rate of $30 per day.

Margin began her term with North Brunswick in July 1999, serving as a high school assistant principal, director of curriculum, assistant superintendent and finally interim superintendent until this past summer. She replaced Rimmer on an interim basis when he resigned in May 2006, and remained in that position through April 2007, at which point Zychowski took over. At that time, she returned to her previous position of assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction until her resignation on July 31.

Before her departure, on July 24, the Board of Education denied Margin payment of $16,570.42 in claims during a public meeting.

As a result, the board filed an answer and counterclaim to her lawsuit on Oct. 24, stating that there was no provision in her contract for the accumulation or use of compensatory days. She is being countersued on the same counts as Sigall.

The issue was discovered after Margin's resignation, when she claimed unused vacation days although the board knew vacations were taken.

The board hired a special counsel to investigate the matter. Zychowski declined further comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Margin's attorney, Maria Lepore of Trenton, could not be reached for comment.