The longtime director of New Jersey’s Office of Attorney Ethics is defending a suit claiming he runs the agency like a “boys club” and shows open hostility to women employees, the Law Journal has learned.

The suit, filed earlier this year in Mercer County Superior Court, alleges that Charles Centinaro passed over plaintiff Melissa Urban in favor of a less-qualified male candidate for the post of first assistant ethics counsel. The suit argues Centinaro lacked any legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for refusing to hire her for the job.