NEWARK -- A Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered Orange school and city officials to appear in court in September to respond to a lawsuit filed by a former teacher who was fired in May for allowing her third-grade students to write "get well" letters to a convicted cop killer.
Judge Stephanie Mitterhoff scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to discuss the allegations made by former Orange teacher Marylin Zuniga in an attempt to get her job back.
In the lawsuit, Zuniga claims the Orange school board violated the state's Open Public Meetings Act by voting for her termination after discussing the matter in private and not in public, even though she had requested a public discussion, according to the complaint filed on June 26 in Essex County Superior Court.
Based on those alleged violations, Zuniga has asked Mitterhoff to declare the board's decision "null and void."
The school board and the city are named as defendants in the lawsuit. In addition to Zuniga, Orange resident Fakhair Spence is a plaintiff in the litigation.
In her court order, Mitterhoff said the defendants must appear on Sept. 2 to "show cause" why judgment should not be entered to declare that they violated the Open Public Meetings Act and to declare Zuniga's dismissal null and void.
School and city officials could not be reached for comment.
Chigozie Onyema, an attorney representing Zuniga and Spence in the lawsuit, declined to comment.
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The lawsuit comes less than two months after Zuniga was fired on May 13 from her first-year teaching position at Forest Street Elementary School, because she had allowed her students to write "get well" letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Abu-Jamal, who was formerly on death row, is serving a life sentence for killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Abu-Jamal has suffered from complications related to diabetes.
After learning about the students' letters through news reports, school officials suspended Zuniga with pay on April 10.
In a statement at the time, officials said they had no prior knowledge about the letters, and said Zuniga did not seek prior approval or notify parents about this "unauthorized activity." The school board attorney later said Zuniga violated various board policies and deviated from the board's approved curriculum for her third-grade class.
The lawsuit centers on the two school board meetings that occurred after Zuniga was suspended. Following her suspension, Zuniga had requested that school board members discuss the matter publicly, the lawsuit states.
During both meetings, Zuniga and her supporters addressed the board, but board members did not publicly discuss her employment status, the lawsuit states. Spence attended both meetings as well, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit adds that "on some occasion, the Board held a non-public meeting discussing the status of Ms. Zuniga's employment."
After Zuniga and others spoke at the first meeting on April 14, the board met in closed session for about 40 minutes. When board members returned to the public meeting, Melvin Randall, the school board attorney, said the matter would be tabled.
At the second meeting on May 12, Zuniga addressed the board, followed by members of the public who mostly spoke in her favor.
When the public comments were finished after midnight on May 13, board members unanimously approved a personnel agenda and abruptly adjourned the meeting without discussing or explaining what they just voted on.
Later that day, after being contacted by a reporter, Orange Superintendent Ronald Lee confirmed in an email that the board had voted to terminate Zuniga's employment as part of the personnel agenda.
The lawsuit alleges the school board violated the Open Public Meetings Act "by taking a vote on the status of Plaintiff Zuniga's employment after meeting privately and holding no public discussion among members of the Board on the matter at either the April 14 or May 12, 2015 meetings, or any other public meeting, even though Plaintiff Zuniga had requested that the discussion be held publicly."
Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.