School Pooper's Lawsuit Says Mug Shot Ruined His Life

A former New Jersey school superintendent accused of defecating daily on or near a high school track near his home says police wrecked his reputation and ruined his life by releasing his mug shot, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday. Former Kenilworth Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Tramaglini—who was nicknamed the "school pooper" or the "pooperintendent" after the case received nationwide coverage—says police violated his constitutional rights taking and leaking the photo after he was issued summonses last year for public defecation, lewdness, and littering, Fox reports. New Jersey law "expressly prohibits" the taking of mug shots for low-level offenses, according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

Tramaglini ended up paying a $500 fine after pleading guilty to relieving himself in public on one occasion, though staff at Holmdel High School said feces was found around the track and football field almost every day. He resigned from his $147,504-per-year job after the summonses, and attorney Matt Adams says he is now "severely underemployed and is fighting for any semblance of normalcy he can create for himself and his family," the AP reports. Adams says the school board cited the mug shot as a reason to part ways with him. NBC reports that Tramaglini submitted evidence to the court that he suffers from a medical condition known as "runner's diarrhea." (Adams says the police department's actions were designed to create a "media spectacle.")