The board of directors for New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization has retained the services of a law firm to conduct a review of its operations after criminal charges were filed against the organization’s now-former executive director and following a board member’s resignation over the board’s handling of the matter.
Garden State Equality said in a statement Dec. 20 that “[I]n order to restore confidence in our actions and operations,” Lowenstein Sandler LLP will conduct “a comprehensive review” of the organization and give recommendations.
The review will be led by attorney Matt Boxer, who chairs the firm’s Corporate Investigations & Integrity Group and had been the state’s comptroller.
“Mr. Boxer, a highly respected voice in corporate governance, will have unfettered access to our operations. Garden State Equality appreciates the patience of all our stakeholders while this review is being undertaken,” the board said in its statement.
The now-former GSE executive director, Christian Fuscarino, 35, was arrested Nov. 21 following an alleged incident Nov. 9 at his Neptune City home in which police say he pulled a child in his care out of bed, struck him across the face multiple times with an open hand and pushed him into a wall several times. Fuscarino, who led GSE since 2016, is facing charges of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child by a caretaker and two counts of simple assault, according to police and court documents.
NJ Advance Media first reported the charges Dec. 16. Fuscarino resigned that day.
GSE said that when it learned of the charges against Fuscarino, it “immediately” placed him on leave. The question of when GSE knew about the alleged incident — sometime between Nov. 9 and the day the news broke Dec. 16 — has not been answered.
Responding to an email from Out in Jersey on Dec. 22, GSE acting Executive Director Brielle Winslow-Majette said, “We respect the privacy of all of our employees and consequently, the organization is unable to comment.” The board’s president, Jeannine LaRue, did not respond to an email or voicemail message left that day seeking comment.
The board’s handling of the matter prompted one of its members to resign. Daniella Mendez said in a statement Dec. 19, before GSE’s announcement of an external review, that she decided to step down after “deep reflection.”
“Following an emergency meeting of the GSE board, it became clear to me that events and the board’s response exposed serious governance concerns, including a lack of transparency and inadequate oversight. Information shared during and after that meeting raised concerns for me about the timeliness and completeness of information provided to board members. These issues are not procedural footnotes; they go to the heart of organizational integrity and public trust,” Mendez said in the statement.
“I made sustained, good-faith efforts to push for independent review, clear accountability measures, and transparent corrective action. Those efforts were met with significant obstacles to meaningful review. Remaining under those conditions would have required me to compromise my ethics and my responsibility to the communities we serve.
“I remain deeply committed to the safety, dignity, and liberation of our communities. I hope the GSE board takes concrete steps to address the governance concerns raised and their impact,” Mendez said, adding that her decision reflects concerns over board governance and oversight only and not on staff, “who continue to show up for our communities with integrity and care.”
Reached for comment beyond her statement, Mendez said in an email Dec. 22 that she has shared everything that she can in her public statement.
“Because this involves internal governance matters, I’m not able to comment further,” she said.
