Bergen County Legal Battle Heats Up: Former Borough Attorney Alleges Civil Rights Violations and Retaliation in New Lawsuit
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Englewood Cliffs, NJ—The political landscape in Englewood Cliffs is once again dominated by legal drama. Albert Wunsch, the borough’s former attorney, has filed his second lawsuit in two years against the municipality, Mayor Mark Park, and Council members Zhi Liang and Rivka Biegacz.
Wunsch’s latest complaint alleges that the governing body illegally denied him legal contracts and payment for invoices, arguing that the Mayor and Council members should have recused themselves from all votes involving him due to a prior, pending defamation lawsuit.
The Core Conflict: A History of Legal Battles
Wunsch’s current lawsuit stems directly from his first complaint, filed in October 2023, which accused Mayor Park, Liang, and Biegacz of character defamation.
The new lawsuit, filed in Bergen County Superior Court, asserts that this existing legal action should have automatically prevented the trio from voting on any issues pertaining to Wunsch, a point the suit claims was confirmed by former Borough Attorney Matthew Moench.
Despite this alleged warning, Wunsch claims he has been illegally denied various positions and payments on seven different occasions, including being denied the role of Affordable Housing Attorney twice.
Judicial Confirmation of Conflict
Wunsch’s position is bolstered by a prior court ruling regarding the same council members.
The lawsuit highlights a separate 2024 legal challenge filed by Councilman Glenn Luciano and former Councilwoman Melanie Simon. In that case, a judge determined that Mayor Park, Liang, and Biegacz violated the Local Government Ethics Law due to conflicts of interest—a decision later upheld by an Appellate Court.
“It has been judicially determined that the actions of the defendants deprived [Wunsch] of fair treatment, violated [his] Constitutional protections and caused damages,” the lawsuit states.
Wunsch accused the officials of allowing their “personal animus” to interfere with their duties, stating, “They have to follow the law, and they don’t.”
The Allegations: Civil Rights and Retaliation
The lawsuit is seeking damages and attorney’s fees, alleging multiple serious violations by the borough and the three governing body members, including:
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Violation of Civil Rights.
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Retaliation against his First Amendment rights.
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Deprivation of federally protected rights under Equal Protection and Due Process.
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Abuse of office through conflict of interests.
The Borough of Englewood Cliffs acknowledged receiving notice of the suit, stating they are “reviewing the matter and will refer it to our legal counsel for a response,” adhering to their policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
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Let me check the ethics rules for an attorney representing a “client” that is a defendant in the attorneys lawsuit. That should be interesting.