TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill and his business administrator Lou Amoruso are facing a multiple account lawsuit alleging sexual harassment against former openly gay business administrator Don Guardian. Guardian was terminated by Hill while on medical leave shortly after suffering a stroke while working for the township.
In that lawsuit, Guardian contends that Amoruso, who now serves as business administrator, called him a “faggot” and “F-cking pervert”. Guardian also said Hill made disparaging comments against Guardian calling him a “pillow biter”.
Hill, a U.S. Navy veteran used the slang term “pillow biter” which refers to a gay man laying on his belly, biting a pillow while receiving anal sex from another man. The term is not a common term.
Guardian said in court records that Amoruso did not approve of his homosexual lifestyle and said the gay official was a ‘liability’ the town ‘needed to get rid of’.
Toms River Township did not respond to requests on the matter from Shore News Network.
In June, Toms River Township attorney, New Jersey Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin moved to dismiss the case in superior court. That appeal was denied. McGuckin then sought to appeal the denial, but last week, that appeal was also denied by Judges Richard J. Geiger and Stephanie Ann Mitterhoff in the Superior Court Appellate division.
Now, as the Guardian team is moving forward to begin deposing township officials, McGuckin, according to township officials is trying to push those depositions off until after the November general election where Hill could stand to lose seats his majority alliance on the township council.
Guardian was terminated while on leave for a stroke he suffered during a township council meeting. During that zoom meeting in June of 2020, members in the meeting were in town hall, in separate rooms. Guardian vanished from the meeting and Hill and the council conducted the meeting without him, not realizing he was lying on the floor in an adjacent room suffering a stroke.
“Guardian was left lying on the floor in his office in medical distress,” the lawsuit claims.
After going on medical leave to recover from his stroke, Hill appointed Amoruso as an interim business administrator, a position he once held until being demoted by former Toms River Mayor Tom Kelaher. Kelaher told Shore News Network before his passing that he demoted Amoruso for ‘reasons I cannot talk about publicly’, adding that Amoruso was not fit to be the township business administrator.
While on medical leave in August, Hill told Guardian that he would not be reappointed to the position of business administrator in January of 2021. Days later on September 2nd, just six days before he was cleared to return to work by his doctor, Guardian was fired by Hill, effective September 8th.
Guardian claimed Hill made that decision so Amoruso could keep the job instead of Guardian. Guardian also claims that Mo Hill fired him because he objected to many questionable and unethical decisions being made by the council and the mayor regarding land sales, political appointments and legal services, all of which benefited Mo Hill-aligned political allies.