John Fahy, a former state and federal prosecutor who inexplicably committed suicide, botched a client’s employment case and concealed the error right up until his death, according to a suit filed Monday in New Jersey state court.

The plaintiff alleges that Fahy took the case, allowed the statute of limitations period to expire and then spent the next year-and-a-half lying about it—even fabricating a story that he had achieved a $1.2 million settlement.