Tag: Ridgewood Real estate

>Friday, July 24, 2009
Last updated: Friday July 24, 2009, 12:13 PM
BY MICHAEL GIARDINA
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER

https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/court_rulings/District_absolved_of_blame.html

A judge dismissed a 2007 discrimination lawsuit filed against the district and a former top administrator, the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) announced in a July 21 press release.

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise was finalized on May 13, according to the judge’s office. The ruling sums up a more than five-year dispute between the district and the Alvaro family of Ridgewood.

The complaint, which was originally filed two years ago, lists the BOE, and Dr. John Porter, the school district’s previous superintendent, for indirectly or substantially aiding and abetting in the discrimination of the minor by continuing to allow Ridgewood Biddy Basketball to use district-owned gyms. Biddy Basketball is a not-for-profit sports association that has been in the village since 1976. It pays to rent school gyms for league games.

In 2004, Joseph Alvaro asked for his daughter, Caitlin, who was then 12, to play for the fifth and sixth grade boys Biddy Basketball team. His stated intention was to place his daughter among better competition. As previously reported in The Ridgewood News, Caitlin was denied the opportunity to play in the boys games.

In November of that year, Alvaro filed a formal complaint against the league with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (NJDCR). Roughly 10 months later, a settlement agreement allowed Caitlin to play on the boys team.

Alvaro filed a lawsuit on March 12, 2007 over the period prior to the settlement, in which he alleged that his daughter was allowed to suit up for and practice with the boys team, but did not get playing time during the three-month season. Alvaro sought unspecified monetary compensation for his daughter’s “emotional distress, psychological injury, humiliation, pain and suffering” while watching those games from the bench.

Debevoise’s 22-page opinion stated that under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NLAD), the district and the BOE cannot be held liable “directly or indirectly to refuse, withhold or deny to any person” the accommodation to play.

“It is undisputed that it was &hellip not the Board of Education or Dr. Porter who refused to let [the minor] play on the boys’ team,” nor did the parties “provide ‘substantial assistance’ to Biddy in its alleged discrimination,” Debevoise ruled.

BOE President Joseph Vallerini said Wednesday that the board was relieved and happy with Debevoise’s decision.

“It’s been a long time, and you know it was a long and difficult process,” said Vallerini. “It worked its way reasonably through the processes and procedures of the legal system, and how could I not be happy that the end result was definitely in our favor in all counts.”

“The district was sued and defended itself and we filed for summary judgment and so did the other party,” added Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein. “And they found for us and did not take their summary judgment.”

Reached for comment on the ruling, Caitlin’s mother, Frances Edwards, said she was happy that her daughter was given the same liberties as any other child in Ridgewood. She did not address the May decision.

“Caitlin very much appreciated that she received an apology from the district, personally delivered by [then] interim Superintendent Paul Arilotta and Board Attorney Phillip Stern,” Edwards said Wednesday. “They also apologized to us, but it was very important for Caitlin to hear this directly from across the table.”

Board Attorney Erin E. McLaughlin, who represented the BOE and the district along with Stern, said “Judge Debevoise found that the board and Dr. Porter worked with the family and Biddy to foster and encourage a resolution of their dispute.”

Vallerini said the BOE will look toward preventing such incidents from happening again in the future.

“It was very unfortunate that it happened in the first place, but I was extremely pleased that the board and district really had no culpability in the matter as presented to them,” he said. “I am delighted to move on and move forward, and hope that we’ve learned from this and don’t have such repetition of these types of incidents again.”

Calls to attorneys representing Edwards and Alvaro, and Biddy Basketball, were not returned at press time.

E-mail: [email protected]

https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/court_rulings/District_absolved_of_blame.html

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“I agree with “concerned and inquiring mind”… PJ, please make it easier to post a new topic on this blog directly from the site rather than sending an e-mail. It is the greatest deficiency of this blog and raises questions about the the veracity and diversity of original posts. Why not eliminate these questions and open up the blog, as it should be?”

Once again lets clear up a few misunderstandings : first this is a free market oriented blog ,neither the democrats or republicans in this state almost ever get it right ,thus the mess we are in. We support some politicians because we like there stand on issues. To us New Jersey is more like a one party system ,the party of tax and waste .

Second this blog reserves the right to publish what ever it feels like …period! Sorry to break it to you but what newspaper or website doesn’t ? As I have stated on all to numerous occasions we hold back on police business ,because we don’t want to inadvertently interfere , we will publish some stupid comments,because we want you to know what some of your neighbors are thinking ,or they are funny ,clever just not the same poster or silly flogger repeating the same comment over and over to every post on this blog for 3 years. We don’t publish all the irresponsible its Bush’s fault because I got a parking ticket nonsense,you have national TV for that .

We try not to publish partisan or even non partisan misinformation ,misscharacterization or just plain lying from people with secret agendas trying to intentionally mislead people. There are not only many blogs,local flogs and websites for that but much of the mainstream media seems to embrace it.

We are a local blog ,that’s why its called “the Ridgewood blog” ,its about the Village of Ridgewood. National Issues are debated in the context of how they effect all of us .

We generally don’t publish “wife or husband cheating stories ” even though we recieve many. We will publish criticism ,complaints and policy debates about local issues ,get over yourself its called DEMOCRACY you don’t have to like it its the price you pay living in a free country. Questioning policies is not being negative its called thinking ,try it you might like it.

And finally ,bring your sense of humor to the table a lot of the comments on here are just busting ,you know who you are and you know who you are not. The Fly column has over 25 regular contributors and believe it or not I don’t always fully embrace everything they say either ,but they took the time to put together a coherent point of view . Don’t like it write one yourself and send it in .If you want to get it published on here stick to the point ,don’t blame some distant imaginary adversary ,have something coherent to say and don’t lie in such an obvious disingenuous manner .

And for those of you who occasionally get offended or find this blog a bit to controversial or feel its destructive ,remember one thing and smile ,you should see the posts we don’t publish they are far nastier ,more revealing and far more compromising than anything that goes live. Like the Ridgewood Blog or not people seem to tell us everything and I mean EVERYTHING.

So learn to laugh ,embrace your neighbors ,speak up ,have a little fun we all want the same things; good schools and a safe positive environment for our children .Don’t forget to say Hi when you seeing wandering around the Village .

thank you again

PJ Blogger

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