A former Kenilworth school superintendent who pleaded guilty to defecating on a rival high school’s track field filed a lawsuit against police Tuesday for releasing his mugshot and publicly embarrassing him.
Thomas Tramaglini resigned as superintendent from Kenilworth schools in July after surveillance video revealed that he was the one pooping on Holmdel High School’s track “on a daily basis.” according to Holmdel police. He faced faced charges of lewdness, littering and defecating in public, to which he pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $500, according to Fox News. (RELATED: San Francisco Is Covered In Poop)
Police released Tramaglini’s mugshot to media outlets following the summonses issued against him May 2018. His case received national attention, which earned him the title “the pooperintendent.”
Mystery high school football field pooper turns out to be a school superintendent: https://t.co/wCLQmAWLpP pic.twitter.com/45OiiuI85Y
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 3, 2018
Tramaglini filed a lawsuit against Holmdel police Tuesday, stating that his constitutional rights were violated when the police publicly released his mugshot. In the lawsuit, Tramaglini accuses police of “unauthorized, intentional, reckless, malicious, and unlawful conduct” that damaged his reputation, says Fox News.
Tramaglini’s attorney, Matthew Adams, says, “Nearly a year after his ordeal began, today Dr. Tramaglini fights back against the police misconduct that has altered his life forever.”
He also claims that Tramaglini struggles to find employment because of his new public profile.
“He is severely underemployed and is fighting for any semblance of normalcy he can create for himself and his family,” Adams said Wednesday. (RELATED: Beto O’Rourke Allegedly Pranked His Wife With Baby Poop)
Adams argues that state law bars police from releasing the mugshots of those with low level offenses such as Tramaglini’s, and that the police’s doing so is unprecedented among similar offenses dating back to 2007.
Tramaglini reportedly received more than $100,000 in a separation agreement with Kenilworth Public Schools.