Thomas McNulty, who appealed his initial removal, saw the attempt at overturning his dismissal denied at a mid-August New Jersey Civil Service Commission.
CAMDEN -- A Camden County Department of Corrections officer who took a personal cellphone into the county jail and exchanged "highly inflammatory" racist text messages with a number of other officers has been fired, state records show.
Thomas McNulty, who appealed his initial removal, saw the attempt at overturning his dismissal denied at an Aug. 19 New Jersey Civil Service Commission meeting. The charges were first heard by Administrative Law Judge Sarah G. Crowley, who ruled the officer's dismissal was "essential."
"Merry Christmas all my Knee-Grows. Have a blessed one," read one of the text messages sent by McNulty cited in the commissions' decision.
A statement provided Wednesday by a Camden County spokesperson noted that the freeholder board "immediately suspended the individuals without pay" as a result of their "appalling conduct."
Mount Laurel-based attorney Charles Schlager, who represented McNulty, declined comment on the ruling when reached by phone Wednesday.
According to state records, a "shakedown" was conducted at the county jail last November and turned up a number of cellphones inside the facility, which are prohibited. During an investigation that followed, one of the officers was found to have had a cellphone on him at the time.
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Investigators later discovered that 5,782 text messages, photos and videos had been exchanged between nine workers -- none of whom were black -- between Sept. 30, 2014, and Dec. 28, 2014. While not all contained content deemed racist, some referred to the jail's warden as the "HNIC," which stood for "head n-- in charge," per the state ruling.
Photos taken using the prohibited cellphones included ones of inside the facility as well as others of inmates -- both of which are also forbidden.
McNulty later admitted to having a cellphone inside the facility and being involved in the group of those sending messages. He admitted to the texts being derogatory, but used the racial slur to describe someone who was arrogant and "refused to admit (the text messages) were racist."
Further, McNulty argued that he only responded to 142 of the more than 5,000 text messages retrieved by prosecutors.
A state fact-finder upheld that McNulty violated a number of polices prohibiting certain workplace conduct. His removal on charges of insubordination, inability to perform duties, conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty and discrimination that affects equal employment was made effective as of Jan. 22, 2015.
"The freeholder board applauds the state's Civil Service Commission decision upholding termination and anticipates the same ruling affirming the county's firing of the additional eight employees. Furthermore, the board commends the warden and internal affairs for eliminating this deplorable behavior from the workplace," according to the statement provided by Camden County.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
