MOUNT OLIVE (11/07/06) – Walter Lata, the Independent candidate for mayor in today’s election has lost a discrimination complaint against Mount Olive Township.

The Star Ledger reported yesterday that the NJ Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by the Division on Civil Rights that found no basis for the discrimination complaints of a former Mount Olive public works employee who was fired after a heated argument with two other employees.

According to the ruling, Lata, who complained to the Civil Rights division that he had suffered from depression and that being fired was an act of discrimination against him because of his handicap.

The state's 2005 investigation found that Lata was the aggressor in the altercation, and that he refused a so-called "last chance agreement" that would have reinstated him, the ruling said.

The court concluded that the state's finding of "no probable cause" for Lata's complaint "is supported by substantial credible evidence," the ruling stated.

Lata is running as an Independent candidate for mayor against two other candidates, a Republican and a Democrat to replace the current mayor, Richard DeLaRoche if he is successfully recalled today.