Gov. Christie Hit with Bridgegate Class Action Lawsuit

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Bridgegate class action lawsuit is filed over the September 2013 closure of the George Washington Bridge.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been hit with a class action lawsuit over the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal that left hundreds of thousands of motorists stranded during a September 2013 closure of the George Washington Bridge. In a motion filed Wednesday, a group of 12 plaintiffs asked the Court to certify the Bridgegate class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 1.1 million New Jersey residents and businesses affected by the closure.

The Bridgegate class action lawsuit also names the State of New Jersey, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and several executives for the Port Authority and the Christie Administration as defendants.

Records obtained by various newspapers and subsequently with the assistance of open records requests indicate the possibility that state officials closed the lanes in political moves that would affect Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and supported by Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, both Democrats in a state run by Republican Gov. Christie.

Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are seeking damages on a number of violations of federal law for a class defined as “all residents and businesses of Bergen County, as well as all commuters who do business in or attend school [there], who were late for and/or missed work or school or were delayed and/or prevented from serving their customers” as a result of the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Prior to the lane stoppage, state Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly reportedly wrote to David Wildstein, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Director of Interstate Capital Projects, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” on Aug. 13, and received the response “Got it.”

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a quasi-governmental agency with officials from both states responsible for the operation of the bridge, local airports and other facilities.

Fort Lee Mayor Sokolish reportedly texted Port Authority Deputy Director Bill Baroni noting, “we have four very busy traffic lanes merging into only one toll both…. The bigger problem is getting kids to school. Help please. It’s maddening.”

That message reportedly made its way to another official who texted Baroni, “Is it wrong that I am smiling? I feel badly about the kids I guess.”

Further messages in the proposed class action lawsuit seek to paint a picture of Bridgegate as the actions of New Jersey state officials, allegedly up to and including Chris Christie, to retaliate against Democrats at the municipal level. Doing so would lend credence to the statutory violations cited, including “deprivations of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to the due process of laws… [and] to the freedom of movement” both put forth in the Fourteenth Amendment, official misconduct, civil conspiracy, and failure to prevent or aid in preventing the commission of civil conspiracy among others.

Named plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit include residents of Bergen County who suffered delays in commuting to work in New York City as a result of the closures, students from the city who attend Bergen Community College via the bridge, and companies who suffered delays in deliveries.

The plaintiffs in the federal action are represented by class action lawyer Rosemary Arnold.

The Chris Christie Bridgegate Class Action Lawsuit is Zachary Galicki, et al. v. State of New Jersey, et al., Case No. 14-cv-00169, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.