The family of an elementary school student in Glen Ridge claims that a teacher 36 years older than her engaged in an inappropriate relationship with the child that was documented in journal entries and handwritten notes, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint filed in state Superior Court in Newark on Friday claims that now-former Ridgewood Avenue School fifth grade teacher Gerald White authored some 40 pages of handwritten notes and letters to the student, which “contained inappropriate, harmful, and abusive language.” A journal found at the school shows communications between White and the student, the lawsuit says.
The family claims that White, who has since resigned from his teaching role, abused his position of authority over the student when she was between 10 and 15 years old, “to engage in conduct that constituted sexual abuse,” under the law.
“My client decided to move forward with this claim, seeking justice for the wrongs done,” Justin Drazin, attorney with Drazin and Warshaw P.C., told Montclair Local. “The family hopes that this claim helps prevent any other child from experiencing similar trauma and encourages victims of similar behavior to come forward.”
The lawsuit names among the defendants the Board of Education and number of school officials, including then-Superintendent Kyle Arlington, who resigned from his Glen Ridge role in July 2025. Arlington now serves as an assistant superintendent in Millburn, according to the district website.
The 53-page lawsuit says that if school officials had conducted a proper background check of White, they would have discovered he “was not fit to perform the duties of an elementary school teacher, with close, authoritative, private contact and access to minor children.”
Glen Ridge Superintendent Winnie Kievit, who started as the district’s superintendent in July 2025, did not immediately respond to an email or phone message seeking comment on the lawsuit Monday.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said it investigated but did not file charges against White.
“After a thorough investigation, we closed the case and declined charges in January 2026,” Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Carmen Martin said in an email.
An attorney for White contests the claims in the lawsuit.
“Case lacks any merit whatsoever. It is actually frivolous,” the attorney, Ronald Ricci, of the firm Ricci & Fava, said after a reporter for Montclair Local sent him a copy of the legal complaint.
The lawsuit states that before the student’s mother was informed of the “abusive relationship” that one or more teachers reported White to Ridgewood Avenue Elementary School Principal Michael Donovan “for his inappropriate and illegal conduct.”
As reported by Montclair Local, the student’s family filed a $10 million notice of tort claim, a required precursor to a lawsuit, in May 2025 claiming that White harassed the student.
Arlington then told families that Ridgewood Avenue School Principal Michael Donovan and Assistant Principal Jon Heitman would be out “effective immediately” and encouraged families to notify the district about “any safety concern.”
According to the lawsuit, at least one teacher witnessed White regularly alone with the student in areas of the elementary school before, during and after school hours.
“Despite being admonished that his conduct was unprofessional and in violation of school policy, defendant Gerald White persisted with such behavior and flaunted his disregard for certain and specific rules about his contact,” the lawsuit claims.
School administrators did not terminate, suspend or effectively discipline White, or take other action to curb his behavior, the lawsuit claims.
“Instead, the defendants renewed or extended the employment contract of defendant Gerald White,” the family claims, stating that this exposed both their child and others to the alleged danger he posed.
“Failure to act emboldened and allowed defendant Gerald White to target, groom and sexually abuse the plaintiff,” the lawsuit claims.
Because of this alleged abuse, the child suffered “physical, emotional and mental injuries and trauma,” including shame, humiliation, embarrassment and loss of self-esteem, the family states. These injuries, the lawsuit says, have persisted and have resulted in medical expenses.
The lawsuit further claims that the district and its employees are liable because “they failed to report defendant Gerald White’s inappropriate and illegal conduct to school district authorities as well as law enforcement when they knew or should have known they had a legal duty to report.”
White began his employment with the school district in 2002. As of the end of 2021, the district paid him a salary of $109,498, according to pension records. While teaching third grade in 2014, White wrote a children’s book, “The Thickety: A Path Begins,” under the name J.A. White, according to a report by Baristanet.
“‘The Thickety: A Path Begins’ is the thrilling start of a new middle-grade fantasy series about a girl, a mysterious forest, and a book of untold magical powers,” a description of the book says. In 2021, his children’s book “Nightbooks” was made into a Netflix film.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, including relief under the New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Act.