Sharon H. Moore

PRIMARY AREAS OF PRACTICE:

Ms. Moore specializes in the representation of public entities, including municipalities, Boards of Education, institutions of higher learning, counties, and various authorities and commissions.  She specializes in the areas of civil rights defense and employment law and labor relations.  In addition to providing day to day counseling for clients, she also regularly represents public entities in litigated matters which allege violations of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, appearing in both the State and Federal Court systems, the ADA, Title VII, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, and related statutes.  She has appeared frequently before the Appellate Division and New Jersey Supreme Court and has defended appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Ms. Moore also represents clients before the EEOC, the Division on Civil Rights, the Office of Administrative Law, and the Commissioner of Education and State Board of Education in such areas as the IDEA and tenure disputes.  She is regularly assigned by insurance companies, joint insurance funds, and the New Jersey Attorney General's office to represent their public clients.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE:

Ms. Moore has defended municipal and school liability cases involving complicated issues of state and federal law imposed on a myriad of different factual scenarios.  She is currently representing the Hamilton Township Board of Education through an assignment from its general liability carrier in a high profile case involving the shooting of a student.  The case involves not only the interplay between the New Jersey Tort Claims Act and Section 1983 but also involves claims under the IDEA relating to the student's out of district placement at which the shooting occurred.  She represented the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education in the case of Besler v. West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education, et al., a case involving a student's allegations of improper treatment by a coach allegedly leading to anorexia which received national attention, and she appeared on Good Morning America and Court TV to discuss the case.  Ms. Moore was successful in having a seven figure jury verdict overturned and is currently waiting for a decision from the New Jersey Supreme Court on the one remaining issue in the case which involves the First Amendment rights of an individual who seeks to speak repeatedly before a Board of Education.  She is currently representing a State college in connection with a gender discrimination claim filed by two former female coaches which involves the application of Title IX.

She has resolved claims against School Boards and employees in a wide variety of contexts involving employment discrimination, including such claims as hostile work environment, sexual harassment, whistleblower, retaliation, and failure to accommodate.  Cases brought by parents and/or students have included civil rights claims such as strip searches, including a case in which she was successful in obtaining a jury verdict in favor of all school employees and the Board, sexual abuse cases involving both male and female victims, cases involving student suicide attempts, as well as the more run of the mill cases involving injuries at school or on the bus to and from school.  In order to successfully defend and resolve these difficult cases, defense counsel must have a detailed knowledge of the federal and state laws which regulate local government and its officials, the immunities which protect public entity defendants, and the remedies available to successful Plaintiffs.  Often, settlement in these cases requires more than an evaluation of the potential monetary loss, and Ms. Moore has great finesse in crafting resolutions for difficult cases.

Ms. Moore has represented the Frankford Township Board of Education as Board Attorney since 1994.  She is well versed in tenure matters, special education, building projects and contract negotiations, and the day to day issues that occur in public education.  During the period of her representation, the Board has been able to avoid litigation, public interest arbitration of its NJEA contract, and all special education disputes have been resolved amicably to the satisfaction of the Board and the parents.

In addition to representing public entities and employees in litigation and as Board or Municipal Attorney, Ms. Moore also provides loss control training to private clients, police and municipal employees, school employees, businesses, doctors' groups, and insurance agents.