A former at-will employee of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has filed a lawsuit against city officials after Fulop fired the aide for donating to his sister’s homophobic campaign to be Missouri’s secretary of state.
Jonathan Gomez worked for the mayor from 2022 until days before his firing in August 2024, when reports arose that he had donated to the campaign of Valentina Gomez, a Missouri Republican seeking her party’s nomination to be secretary of state. Gomez worked intermittently as a Jersey City employee since 2018 and was hired as a full-time aide in 2022, when he started working on the task force, among other roles.
Valentina Gomez centered her Missouri campaign around provocative, hate-filled videos she tried to transform into material political support — she lost, finishing sixth. In early August, the Jersey City Times reported the aide had given his sister’s campaign $1,250. Ire from New Jerseyans — including Hudson County Executive Craig Guy — quickly followed.
A few days after the reports emerged that Gomez had donated to his sister’s campaign, Fulop said the aide “doesn’t reflect the values of the city” and terminated his employment. Gomez = was a politically appointed at-will employee — such employees can be fired for a broader array of reasons.
On Wednesday, though, Gomez filed a wrongful termination suit against Jersey City, Fulop, and other city officials. The lawsuit, among other things, accused Fulop of firing Gomez to “bolster his progressive credentials.” Fulop is one of six Democratic candidates for the next year’s gubernatorial election.
In a statement Wednesday, Fulop press secretary Kim Wallace-Scalcione — who is also listed as a defendant — said the lawsuit has no merit.
“Jonathan was an at-will employee, and part of his responsibilities were focused on the LGBTQ Community along with diversity and inclusion,” Wallace-Scalcione said. “Once he decided to partake in a hate-filled campaign, the community in Jersey City no longer wanted to work with him, making him unable to do his work responsibilities. It’s as simple as that, and we wish him luck in his next chapter.”
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Giancarlo Ghione, accuses Fulop and the other defendants of violating Gomez’s right to free speech and asks for a jury trial and unspecified damages.