N.J. education boss upholds NJSIAA punishment of white ref in hair-cutting incident

TRENTON » Suspension upheld.

New Jersey’s top education official says the NJSIAA exercised its authority in an “appropriate and reasonable manner” when it suspended white referee Alan Maloney for improperly enforcing the hair cover rule on a biracial studentathlete.

The Buena Regional High School wrestler Andrew Johnson cut his dreadlocks with the assistance of a trainer on Dec. 18, 2018, complying so that Maloney would allow him to compete in an important match that otherwise would have been forfeited against Oakcrest High School.

NJSIAA, the official body that oversees high school athletics in the Garden State, punished Maloney for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Maloney appealed the decision, arguing the NJSIAA’s decision to suspend him from officiating wrestling matches for the 201920 and 2020-21 seasons and require him to undergo training prior to reinstatement was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan, acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education, dismissed Maloney’s arguments in a legal decision handed down Jan. 26.

“The NJSIAA disciplined petitioner because his conduct resulted in a studentathlete with a traditionally Black hairstyle being placed in the untenable position of choosing between forfeiting an important match and having his hair cut in front of his teammates, opponents, coaches, and spectators,” Allen-McMillan said in her final decision. “The Commissioner concurs with

the NJISAA that video of the incident gives the impression that A.J. was publicly humiliated as a result of his hairstyle.”

In his appeal, Maloney said NJSIAA’s so-called sportsmanship rule did not apply to him as an independently contracted referee or official, and he argued the governing body deprived him of due process rights and suspended him without jurisdiction.

Maloney also faulted the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for finding his prior race-based transgression in 2016 to be an “aggravating factor.”

An ethics committee from the New Jersey Wrestling Officials Association previously suspended Maloney for using a “racial slur” and getting in a “physical altercation” with a fellow official at a social event following a youth wrestling tournament.

DOE boss Allen-McMillan sided with NJSIAA, which had defended its twoyear suspension against Maloney as “more than justified.”

The NJSIAA’s punishment “was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable,” Allen-McMillan said in her nine-page written decision, “nor were the NJSIAA’s conclusions that petitioner had engaged in prior misconduct that served as an aggravating factor for purposes of determining the penalty and that petitioner’s suspension was necessary to protect schools and student-athletes from the disruption his presence at events would cause.”

“The NJSIAA applied its rules in an appropriate and reasonable manner in light of its duty to ensure a safe and healthy playing environment for student athletes,” she added. “Accordingly, the NJSIAA’s decision is upheld and the petition of appeal is hereby dismissed.”

Maloney may appeal Allen-McMillan’s decision to the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court within 45 days of her Jan. 26 order.