My boss told me to cheat, NJ dispatcher claims in $225K lawsuit

🔴 Borough in Middlesex County settles whistleblower lawsuit for $225,000

🔴 Fired dispatcher claims he faced retaliation for refusing to lie, cheat

🔴 Boss called his mother a "waste of life" among other insults, lawsuit said

SOUTH RIVER — A former dispatcher in Central Jersey who claimed he lost his job because he wanted to play by the rules has settled a lawsuit for $225,000.

Matthew Grekoski, of Toms River, was fired as a South River dispatcher in December 2020 just a week before Christmas. The borough of around 16,000 residents has its own full-time dispatchers.

Grekoski filed a lawsuit against the borough in Superior Court in Middlesex County in 2021. John Paff with TransparencyNJ.com first reported on the settlement.

It said that his supervisor, a fellow dispatcher, asked him to violate several department policies and cheat on the exam to get his dispatcher certifications.

Grekoski's training began in October 2020. According to the suit, Grekoski's supervisor gave him an answer key for the exam only three weeks into training.

It was important for dispatchers to pass the test and get certified so that South River could continue its training "in-house" instead of with the state, the lawsuit said.

However, the lawsuit said Grekoski refused to cheat and faced retaliation for it.

South River officials did not respond to an email from New Jersey 101.5 requesting comment.

Supervisor used trainee's mother as retaliation

The suit said the supervisor began using Grekoski's estranged mother's records in his training as retaliation.

His mom, who is now dead, had extensive health issues at the time and she frequently called first responders for help.

TRAGEDY: Body of missing NJ mom found in Middlesex park, officials say

According to the lawsuit, the supervisor complained about Grekoski's mother during training and made Grekoski review her criminal history.

The lawsuit said that when she called, the supervisor made hurtful comments such as "what does that b**** want?" and "she is a waste of life and wasting services."

"This was completely unprofessional, hostile, and cruel," the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, Grekoski had to push back on other unethical requests from his supervisor including a request to call an ambulance on a healthy Black man to remove him from the police station.

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The lawsuit said Grekoski was fired after two months on the job. It also said there were no complaints about his work performance before the day he was fired.

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