A superior court judge dismissed former Hudson County Schools of Technology Board Secretary Joey Muniz’s fiery lawsuit against the district where he alleged an 18-year affair with the then-superintendent.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

Ray Mateo, Richard Spatola, and Corey Danielle Repasy, attorneys at Newark-based Calcagni & Kanefsky representing former Superintendent Amy Lin-Rodriguez, had a motion to dismiss heard by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kalimah H. Ahmad last week.

Prior to granting that motion, she dismissed a cross motion from Weiner Law Group Partner Stephen Edelstein, Muniz’s counsel in the matter, where she explained her reasoning.

“While the Court fully sympathizes with the [health] challenges experienced by counsel, said delays clearly do not constitute significant enough interference to warrant an exceptional circumstance, particularly given the numerous attorneys involved in the matter. Furthermore, the certification does not speak to said health issues and only asserts that all responsive discovery in the possession of Plaintiff has been produced,” she wrote.

“As to the receipts, after meeting with Mr. Muniz various times it said the search remains ongoing, having been on going since March 2025. Despite the passing of 7 months, not one document responsive to the RFP has been produced. Such deficiency is not explained in the certification. Said certification does not outline any exceptional circumstances required to avoid dismissal of the case.”

As a result, Ahmad dismissed Lin-Rodriguez from the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, on Wednesday, January 28th, court records show.

The schools of technology was previously dismissed from the case without prejudice, meaning Muniz could potentially have the ability to file an amended complaint in the future.

The fallout from Muniz’s lawsuit led to Lin-Rodriguez’s contract not being renewed and three different superintendents (two of them acting) being named in six months, with Lin-Rodriguez now the Explore Middle School principal, all as HCV first reported.

Counsel for Lin-Rodriguez, Muniz, and the HCST did not return inquiries seeking comment on Tuesday.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that the Hudson County Schools of Technology was dismissed from the case without prejudice.