While the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of wrongful termination claims brought by a Newark Municipal Court judge against city officials, it reversed a lower court’s order dismissing allegations pertaining to the perceived disability that she was an alcoholic so that the discovery process could be completed.

Vanessa Williams Powell, a former Newark Municipal Court judge, was appointed to the bench in 2002 and served until her termination on May 26, 2017. On July 9, 2018, Powell filed a complaint in Essex County Superior Court against Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark Chief Municipal Judge Victoria Pratt, and both the city and its municipal council, among others. In her amended complaint, Powell asserted claims of wrongful termination; breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination; the state’s Civil Rights Act, among others, according to the opinion filed Wednesday.