TOMS RIVER, NJ — An employee of the Toms River Regional Schools has accused Superintendent David Healy of sexually harassing her over the course of the last year, and the matter is now under investigation.

Details of the claim are contained in a June 22 letter sent to the Toms River Regional Board of Education, asking the board to investigate the claim, in which the employee says Healy made remarks to her on repeated occasions praising her legs in a way that made her uncomfortable. Steven R. Cohen, an attorney who represents the Toms River Education Association, the teachers' union in the district, sent the letter on behalf of the union, asking the board to investigate the claim.



Copies of the letter were mailed anonymously to several media outlets, including the Patch. The anonymous package also included the first page of the agenda for Wednesday night's Board of Education meeting — an agenda that was was not posted publicly until Tuesday. The employee's name was blacked out in the letter; on the agenda, an item under the executive session portion regarding a personnel RICE notice was circled. Cohen, in a telephone interview, confirmed the matter was under investigation.

"This is very sensitive and something we would not comment on," Cohen said. He said he was distressed that the matter had been disclosed to the public before the investigation is completed. "I don't think it's fair to the board or the union or the people involved," Cohen said.

Stephan R. Leone, the attorney for the Toms River Regional Board of Education, on Wednesday confirmed a report that retired Superior Court Judge Vincent R. Grasso was asked to conduct the investigation into the claim.

"Usually these investigations are done by the district's affirmative action officer," said Leone, of the firm Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle and Sacks, said, "but because it involved the superintendent, we took it outside the district." Grasso, who is a member of a member of the same law firm, has nearly completed the investigation, Leone said.

Healy, 55, was hired as superintendent in April 2014, with a five-year contract that expires in 2019. His hiring came as the district was trying to move forward from an insurance fraud and bribery scandal involving former superintendent Michael J. Ritacco, who pocketed more than $1 million in the scheme. Ritacco is in the fifth year of an 11-year federal prison sentence.

Healy had been the superintendent in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District prior to coming to Toms River. His base salary is $198,000 but he could earn up to $207,900 with incentives.