Ex-aide claims mayor fired him for donating to Republican sister's political campaign

A former aide to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop sued him and other city officials Wednesday, accusing them of discrimination, defamation, and civil rights violations for trash-talking and ultimately firing him because he donated to his conservative sister’s political campaign.

Jonathan Gomez Noriega, who worked off and on for the city since 2018, served on Jersey City’s LGBTQ+ task force, a job that normally wouldn’t attract much notice — but did after reporters discovered he was a regular donor to sister Valentina Gomez’s campaign to become Missouri’s secretary of state. Valentina Gomez, a Republican who lost her primary bid, is known for her viral videos in which she bashes the LGBTQ+ community, among others.

But in a complaint filed in federal court, Gomez Noriega accuses Fulop, a Democrat running for governor next year, of “an abuse of public office.” Fulop knew for eight months that he supported his sister’s campaign and even advised him to “focus on family,” but dismissed him in August “to bolster his progressive credentials” after his donations made headlines, he contends in the complaint.

In a statement provided by his attorney, Giancarlo Ghione, Gomez Noriega said his lawsuit isn’t about his former job or political party. Instead, he said, he sued to show that no public servant is above the law.

“This is about our constitutional right to freedom of speech. Steven Fulop and the mayor’s office tried to use me as a political pawn to further his campaign for governor of New Jersey, but this only backfired tremendously, by bringing a national spotlight to the wrongs he had just committed,” Gomez Noriega said. “Like Elon Musk says, the hammer of justice is coming. So to all Americans. Speak the truth, and put God and family before anything.”

Fulop, though, told the New Jersey Monitor Wednesday that Gomez Noriega was an at-will employee — meaning he could legally be fired mostly for any reason — who worked on diversity and inclusion issues, including as a liaison to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Once he decided to campaign on behalf of his sister, who was outwardly spewing hate targeting the LGBTQ community and others, there was no longer the ability for him to do his job, and if you can’t do your job, there’s no way that we could continue to employ you as an at-will employee,” Fulop said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, who’s also named as a defendant, seconded that sentiment Wednesday.

“This lawsuit has no merit,” she said.

Jersey City has a track record “second to none” in advocating for diverse communities, Fulop added, pointing to the city’s top score in a national ranking of municipalities’ LGBTQ+ equality efforts.

Gomez Noriega, who’s a registered Democrat, says in the lawsuit that Fulop didn’t object when he advised the mayor in November 2023 that his younger sister would run in Missouri’s GOP primary. Fulop replied by text: “It does not cause any problems- how is her campaign go[ing],” according to the complaint.

Still, Gomez Noriega said, Fulop and other officials ridiculed his sister’s views and social media posts. After his $50 monthly donations made news, they blitzed him with calls and demands to publicly denounce his sister and her views, amid pressure from groups like Garden State Equality, according to the complaint.

His termination came even though he stepped down from the LGBTQ+ task force and assured his bosses he did not share his sister’s views nor otherwise contribute to her campaign decisions, strategy, or messaging, the lawsuit says.

“Political affiliation is protected under the Constitution, and public employees should not be punished for exercising their rights,” said Ghione, Gomez Noriega’s attorney. “This lawsuit seeks to hold Mayor Fulop and Jersey City officials accountable for retaliating against Mr. Gomez simply because he chose to support a family member with a different political ideology.”

Gomez Noriega’s lawsuit accuses Fulop and other officials of retaliation, violating his constitutional rights to free speech and association, and defamation and slander for various public statements they made he said portrayed him as a racist and a bigot.

He argued that his termination also violated the state’s Law Against Discrimination, which protects him as a Latino immigrant. He’s a Colombia native who immigrated to the U.S. in 2009 and became a U.S. citizen in 2016, according to the lawsuit.

Besides Fulop and Wallace-Scalcione, the lawsuit names as defendants Fulop’s chief of staff, John Minella; city manager John Metro; and Mobin Yousaf, the city’s director of employee relations and workforce management.

Gomez Noriega said he has been unable to land a job since the flap first made headlines, even though he’s a college graduate and retired professional swimmer who competed in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo and won a bronze medal in the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, where he swam for Colombia’s national team.

After her brother was fired, Valentina Gomez warned Fulop on social media that “a huge lawsuit” was coming. Wednesday, she warned him again: “lawyer up. Feel free to leak more text messages that only incriminate you.”