New Jersey death investigator fired for sharing details of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau's fatal bike crash
A New Jersey official upheld the firing of a death investigator who leaked details of the crash that killed NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew Gaudreau in 2024, according to court documents.
A court filing shows a Gloucester County death investigator shared details of the Aug. 29, 2024, crash with a group chat. Someone in that chat later posted information about the Gaudreau brothers' deaths — and a New Jersey State Police trooper's cellphone number — on social media, prior to the information being released to the public.
The Gaudreau brothers — Johnny, a Columbus Blue Jackets winger, and Matthew, a Gloucester Catholic High School hockey coach — were riding bicycles on County Route 551 in Oldmans Township when a driver, Sean Higgins, allegedly struck them while under the influence.
Defense attorneys have argued Higgins' blood alcohol level was below the legal limit of .08 at the time of the crash, while prosecutors say he was intoxicated. The Gaudreaus were struck the night before their sister's wedding.
The Gloucester County Medical Examiner's office worker sent a picture of his notes to a text message group with members of his hockey team after receiving news of the crash from a state trooper, documents filed with the New Jersey Civil Service Commission say.
The worker said he took the photo because he was emotional and knew the victims, and that it would also serve as a way of informing the team he could not make it to their scheduled game that night. Someone from that group chat posted the photo on X, the documents say. The post eventually made it to Reddit.
Overnight, multiple articles were written based on the social media post that originated from the group chat. The trooper whose phone number was visible in the picture received about a dozen phone calls from the media trying to confirm details of the crash, documents say.
The worker was accused of failing to safeguard confidential patient information, conduct unbecoming of a public employee and other offenses.
An administrative law judge recommended the worker be suspended for six months before the Civil Service Commission ruled to fire him.
While the worker had no prior disciplinary record, the commission said that "some disciplinary actions are so serious that removal is appropriate notwithstanding a largely unblemished prior record ... the [worker's] offense ... constituted a serious breach of the standard of conduct expected from all public employees who have access to confidential personal information."
