Jersey City's Top Lawyer Says She Was Locked Out After Giving Notice; City Says She Chose to Leave

Jersey City says the duties of Corporation Counsel Sarah Michael Levine have been turned over to First Assistant Corporation Counsel Lisa Scorsolini and that a search to permanently fill the job is already underway, according to a statement the city sent Hudson TV on Wednesday.

“Ms. Levine chose to separate from the City, and so as per municipal code, her responsibilities have been turned over to Lisa Scorsolini, whom Sarah Levine vetted and hired as the First Assistant Corporation Counsel,” city spokesperson and acting press secretary Kim Wallace-Scalcione said in an email at 11:56 a.m.

“Being mayor means making tough choices and putting the people of Jersey City ahead of politics. While Ms. Levine proposed to make her last day November 20, the administration must move forward with what is in the best interest of the residents and City overall. A search to permanently fill the role is already underway.”

The statement came a day after Levine told city officials that Mayor James Solomon’s administration had locked her out of city systems and City Hall after she gave notice, and that she considered herself terminated, effective Oct. 13.

The city’s statement does not address Levine’s account that she was locked out of city email and files and told not to enter City Hall, or her statement that the restrictions kept her from a mandatory federal court conference.

What Levine wrote

In an Oct. 13 letter to City Council members, department directors and City Hall colleagues, Levine said she gave notice last week that she would resign effective Nov. 20, 2026, and offered to remain available, “paid or unpaid,” to help with the transition. Instead, she wrote, she was told over the weekend that the administration would treat Oct. 16 as her last day.

“I have since been locked out of City systems that are necessary to perform my job, including City email, Microsoft Teams, and electronic files,” she wrote. She said she was told she was under the supervision of the business administrator, told to limit her duties and told not to enter City Hall. “This morning, administration officials entered my office with boxes and instructions to pack my belongings,” she wrote on Oct. 13.

She said the restrictions “interfered with my ability to appear in a mandatory court conference in a pending federal litigation, for which I—and no other Department attorney—was prepared.” She described the Law Department as “profoundly understaffed.”

Levine said department directors are entitled to statutory protections and procedures on removal that had not been followed, and that the administration had “effectuated my constructive termination.” She closed: “Accordingly, with a broken heart, I inform you of my termination, effective today.” She asked that legal requests go to the Law Department.

She also rejected suggestions that frustration with City Council meetings drove her departure: “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The lockout was first reported by Jersey City Times. New Jersey Globe published the full letter, and Hudson County View also reported the city’s statement.

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