Hackensack, NJ – Court Employee’s “gas chamber” Remark Draws Attention

Hackensack, NJ – Court officials in Bergen County have reprimanded an employee who told a glum-looking group in small claims court that they seemed as though they were bound for “the gas chamber,” records show.

As nearly 30 plaintiffs and defendants waited for Superior Court Judge Joseph Rosa Jr. to take the bench on Aug. 6 in Hackensack, the unidentified court employee requested the group’s attention. While telling them what to do when the judge arrived, the officer commented on the group’s demeanor, saying they appeared ready to go to “the gas chamber,” said one of the plaintiffs, veteran journalist Victor Sasson of Hackensack.

“He made the gas chamber remark one or two more times,” said Sasson, 64, a former employee of North Jersey Media Group, parent company of The Bergen Record. “Then [he] left the courtroom.”

“As a Jew, I was offended by the remark and the reference to the Holocaust,” Sasson told CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM. “I cannot understand how a court employee can make such a comment.”

Court officials haven’t identified the employee, whom Sasson described as African-American, balding, in his late 50s or early 60s.

Trial Court Administrator Jon Goodman didn’t personally respond to a call this morning from CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM.

“He has no comment about the website story,” said his secretary, Denise Harriet. “They have spoken with the employee and action has been taken.”

Harriet said she was prohibited from elaborating because “it is a personnel matter…. It’s been handled internally. That’s all I can say.”

In a letter to Goodman, Sasson says the group gathered in Rosa’s courtroom wore “poker faces” and had a “generally glum demeanor.”

“I guess he was trying to cheer us up and say not to be so serious,” he wrote, “but he made the remark about going to ‘the gas chamber’ at least twice, possibly three times. Then he left the courtroom.

“I would like to know the identity of the court employee who made the remark and hope that you impress on him the insensitivity he has shown the Jewish people and that he should never again make light of the Holocaust,” Sasson wrote to Goodman, calling the comment “insensitive” and “offensive.”

Goodman immediately responded, telling Sasson he agreed that it was “an offensive remark,” while noting that he was “extremely surprised” that the particular employee “made this comment.”

“Please know that corrective action has been taken with this employee regarding the incident,” Goodman wrote, without elaborating.

“The Bergen Vicinage has a zero tolerance policy regarding inappropriate behavior by staff and we are very sorry that you had this unpleasant experience while at the Bergen Vicinage,” Goodman added. “I sincerely thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.”

Sasson, who holds a paralegal certificate from FDU, said he called Goodman for specifics and instead got a reply from an unidentified respondent from his office who “wouldn’t identify the employee or say what happened to him, but assured me this ‘will never happen again’.”