OPRA: police officer-involved lawsuits 2012-2019
Dear Robbinsville Township,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
1. A list of all lawsuits and cases in which any officer of the police department was involved between 2012 and 2019. For each lawsuit/case, please provide the date (month and year) of the alleged incident at issue, whether the alleged incident was excessive force, settlement amount (if any), and final compensation amount ruled (if any).
2. Please provide copies of the complaint in any lawsuits and cases described above.
Yours faithfully,
UC Research
In response to your OPRA request for police officer involved lawsuits,
attached please find:
• The filed Complaint in the matter of Rountree v. Township of
Robbinsville et al.
• The filed Complaint in the matter of N.S. et al. v. Township of
Robbinsville et al.
• Settlement Agreement and Release in the matter of Rountree v. Township
of Robbinsville et al.
A Social Security Number on page 16 of the settlement agreement has been
redacted as Social Security Numbers are exempt from disclosure per NJSA
47:1A-1.1.
Additional Documents are forthcoming in separate email as the file sizes
are too large to email all in one email.
With regard to #1 of your request, a list of lawsuits was never made nor
is it required to be made, therefore as per NJSA 47:1A-1.1, this portion
of your request is denied as no records exist. The rest of the information
you are seeking in #1 can be found in either the complaint or settlement
agreement for each case or both, and we are providing you with those.
Sincerely,
Michele Seigfried
Municipal Clerk
Robbinsville Township
2298 Route 33
Robbinsville, NJ 08691
(609) 259-3600 ext. 103
Fax (609) 259-3645
Per your OPRA request attached is the settlement agreement for N.S./S.S.
It is redacted as follows:
1. Name of Juvenile: Pursuant to NJSA 2A:4A-60, disclosure of juvenile
information is prohibited
2. Juvenile’s identifying information (i.e. guardians’ names) which would
identify the juvenile: pursuant to NJSA 2A:4A-60, which states that
disclosure of juvenile information is prohibited.
(please note that for 1 and 2 above, I have left first initials unredacted
so that you can tell who is who in the agreement).
3. Social Security Numbers: Pursuant to NJSA 47:1A-1.1, and Governor’s
Executive Order No. 21.
4. The Medicare claim number was the same number as the social security
number on one page, and social security numbers are confidential
pursuant to NJSA 47:1A-1.1, and Governor’s Executive Order No. 21.
5. Tax ID Numbers: As per New Jersey Governor’s Executive Order No. 26,
states that a natural person’s financial information is not subject to
disclosure. In addition, NJSA 47:1A-1.1 states that proprietary
commercial or financial information obtained from any source is exempt
from public access. It further states that disseminating security
information would be contrary to an individual’s interest in being
safe and is exempt from disclosure. Lastly, there have been several
court cases and decisions of the Government Records Council, including
Doe v. Poritz 142 NJ 1 (1995), GRC Complaint Nos. 2004-179 and
2003-121, which all confirm that public agency has a responsibility
and an obligation to safeguard from public access a citizen's personal
information with which it has been entrusted when disclosure thereof
would violate the citizen's reasonable expectation of privacy.
Sincerely,
Michele Seigfried
Municipal Clerk
Robbinsville Township
2298 Route 33
Robbinsville, NJ 08691
(609) 259-3600 ext. 103
Fax (609) 259-3645
**Please note our new address above
Attached are 2 additional settlement agreements and another complaint that
I have found pursuant to your OPRA request. These documents are redacted
as follows:
a. Social Security Numbers: Pursuant to NJSA 47:1A-1.1, and Governor’s
Executive Order No. 21.
b. Workman’s Comp information: Pursuant to: Executive Order No. 46
(Section 4(b)) which exempts information relating to medical,
psychiatric or psychological history, diagnosis, treatment or
evaluation; and Executive Order 11 (Section 2(b)), as well as the
Federal Hipaa Law (42 U.S.C. § 1320d-6) which provides for privacy of
medical information.
c. Pension account number: bank account numbers are exempt from
disclosure as per New Jersey Governor’s Executive Order No. 26, NJSA
47:1A-1.1 and GRC Complaint Nos. 2004-179 and 2003-121.
Sincerely,
Michele Seigfried
Municipal Clerk
Robbinsville Township
2298 Route 33
Robbinsville, NJ 08691
(609) 259-3600 ext. 103
Fax (609) 259-3645
Attached is the last complaint that I have on file pursuant to your OPRA
request. I have sent you 4 complaints and 4 settlement agreements total.
Although I believe those are the only ones we have, if these are not the
documents you were seeking, please be more specific with your request to
provide information such as a name, docket number, date or other
information that would allow us to find what you are seeking.
Sincerely,
Michele Seigfried
Municipal Clerk
Robbinsville Township
2298 Route 33
Robbinsville NJ
609-259-3600 x1107
Fax: 609-259-3645