The irrepressible Jennifer Borg

Place de La Sorbonne in Paris.

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As the chief legal officer of North Jersey Media Group, defendant and witness, Jennifer A. Borg attended every day of the jury trial of my age-discrimination lawsuit. 


Her restrained "good morning" to me contrasted with her uninhibited conversation with NJMG's in-house lawyer, Dina L. Sforza, and its hired gun, Samuel J. Samaro of Pashman Stein in Hackensack.


Borg, 44, talked about children, her nephews and lots of other subjects. Eventually, she started talking to me about her Upper West Side lifestyle, the upscale food stores she patronizes, her husband's visa problems and more.


She asked me if I had a problem getting a visa for my wife after I met her in Jamaica, then recounted the long, expensive legal process of her husband's immigration to the U.S., and recommended the lawyer she used. 


When I asked where her husband is from, she said "Africa" -- twice. Later, she said he's from South Africa (probably not from Soweto). 


During this conversation, it never occurred to her to ask why The Record has never launched a project on the dysfunctional legal immigration system, which is responsible for a lot of illegal immigration. 


I recall telling Projects Editor Tim Nostrand in late 2003 that it took 16 months to get my stepson here from Jamaica and that the federal office in Newark had lost hundreds of files, forcing relatives and immigrants to start over again, and suggested we do series on legal immigration. He advised me to write an op-ed piece.


I knew Jennifer Borg had led a life of privilege before she took the witness stand (you can hear it in her accent). But when I asked her to tell the jury "briefly" about the schools she attended, she rattled off a half-dozen degree and non-degree programs, including law school and "the Sorbonne in Paris." Hearing that, I looked at the jurors, but none reacted visibly. 


At her second deposition, conducted by my attorney, she was unrestrained in condemning my behavior and work performance at The Record, talking on and on in a scolding tone. 


But even though she had sworn to tell the truth, she distorted many things and gave the wrong year for my probationary period -- she said 1985; it was 1995. It was clear she was trying to smear me.


In front of the jury, she was far more restrained. She said she was mistaken about 1985.


Her younger brother, Stephen A. Borg, 41, had testified first. 


After they finished, I felt the jury understood how neither Borg was "minding the store" -- the newsroom. 


I hoped the jurors felt as I did that the Borgs were merely two spoiled siblings working for their multimillionaire father who paid no attention to who was hired and who was promoted, and whether the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing editors -- notably Frank Scandale, Deirdre Sykes and Barbara Jaeger -- were complying with company policy condemning age-discrimination and sexual harassment. 


The younger Borg, NJMG's president and publisher, testified that he never approached me or spoke to Human Resources after he learned I had filed a lawsuit. The employee manual says the president is obligated to investigate any such charges. 


He also testified he did nothing when he received my April 4, 2008, e-mail alleging mistreatment of older workers -- except send it to his big sister for inclusion in a final, written warning given to me April 9, 2008.


Stephen Borg, who wore a suit and tie for his courtroom appearance, also told the jury the only thing experience gets you at The Record is more vacation -- almost exactly what his father said to me many years before.


Company patriarch Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg appeared in the courtroom last Friday, the morning of the verdict. Jennifer Borg wouldn't allow him to answer when I asked what he thought of the photo The Record published the day before, showing a woman making an obscene gesture.


"I don't know when you're Victor Sasson and when you're a blogger," she said. 


Both Jennifer and "Mac" Borg rushed out of the courtroom after the jurors were polled on their  verdict, which rejected my age-discrimination and retaliation claims. 


I didn't get a chance to tell them I am down, but not out.