Paterson health clerk posted on the mayor's Facebook page. She got docked two days' pay

PATERSON — A city Health Division clerk was suspended without pay for two days after she recently disagreed with Mayor Andre Sayegh by posting on his personal Facebook page.

City officials said the clerk, Karla Paredes, was disciplined for insubordination as well as violating Paterson policies regarding use of social media and personal cellphones during government work hours.

After being notified of her suspension, Paredes went to Paterson police headquarters on May 1 and filed a civil complaint against Sayegh regarding a confrontation that happened a week earlier. Paredes said the mayor raised his voice at her during a face-to-face dispute at the municipal health office about the Facebook post, an encounter during which she said he threatened to suspend her, according to the police report.

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Paredes told Paterson Press during a recent interview that Sayegh confronted her on April 23 after he met with another Health Division employee, Robert Ardis, who is the mayor’s campaign treasurer.

Sayegh said he went to the health offices at 176 Broadway that day for several reasons, and acknowledged that during the visit he handed Ardis a check for his campaign bank account as the two of them were leaving the building.

The Facebook blurb that triggered Paredes’ suspension and her filing of a police complaint against the mayor was posted on April 23. The mayor was announcing that the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute had designated Paterson a "Healthy Town” for the fourth straight year. In his post, he said previous “Healthy Town” designations involved the city’s COVID vaccination program and that the latest was for lead abatement initiatives and park improvements.

Paredes took issue with the mayor by posting her own comment.

“And this is all thanks to the Paterson Health Department for the great nurses that work there,” Paredes responded. “This was not done by city hall human service and any other department in the city. It was all done by the Health and Lead Dept at 176 Broadway...just making it clear.”

The mayor deleted Paredes’ post from his Facebook page, but she included a copy of it with the police complaint she filed.

Different from ordinary social media use

Paterson Press asked city officials on May 6 if they had suspended any other employees for using social media during work hours during the past year. The Sayegh administration has not provided a response.

Paterson Press also asked the Sayegh administration if Paredes would have been punished for using social media during work hours if she had praised the mayor. Officials did not provide a response.

City officials said the Paredes post was different from ordinary social media use because she had put her message directly on the mayor’s page and provided what they asserted was inaccurate information about the “Healthy Town” designation.

Councilman Michael Jackson, Sayegh’s archrival on the governing body, called the suspension imposed on Paredes “an abuse of power.”

It turns out that Jackson was somewhat involved in a previous dispute between Paredes and Sayegh. The clerk said she previously sent out a text message — one that included both Sayegh and Jackson in the chain of recipients — complaining about garbage dumping, homelessness and other problems in the city.

Parades said Sayegh told her she should not include him and Jackson in the same message groups.

Paterson Press asked Sayegh why he didn’t want to be included in a text group with the councilman. Sayegh cited the pending election fraud case against Jackson and the councilman’s battle with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office over access to his phone’s passcode.

Sayegh said he did not make the decision to suspend Paredes. The discipline, he said, was imposed by Paterson Health and Human Services Director Joel Ramirez, who was appointed by the mayor.

“Ms. Paredes was disciplined for violating various city policies and then chose to file a complaint against the mayor,” Ramirez said. “However, since this is a personnel matter, the city will not comment any further.”

City officials said Paredes’ discipline had been reduced from the original penalty of three days to two. Administration officials asserted that the reduction was requested by the employee’s union representative, which they said showed an admission that Paredes had done something wrong.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Clerk posted on Paterson mayor's Facebook page, got suspended