William Paterson University (Google Maps).
Some 200 fossils roughly 380 million years old are now buried in a landfill because the New Jersey college tasked with mailing them did not pay the bill to have them delivered, according to a lawsuit.
Professor Martin Becker is suing his employer William Paterson University, its mail room supervisor and others for allegedly losing the Devonian Age marine invertebrate fossils that were once transported via glacier for several million years and ended up in the “High Mountain” area of Wayne, which is a few miles away from the school.
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Becker spent nearly two decades collecting the fossils and used them as a part of his curriculum.
“The fossils and manner in which they were transported to the High Mountain Area are invaluable and extraordinarily unique,” the lawsuit said.
As part of a collaboration with a professor in Florida, Becker on June 18 placed the fossils into 19 packages that weighed between 20 to 60 pounds and went to the campus mail room in an effort to send them out. He gave the packages to the mail room supervisor, Raymond Boone, who said UPS would ship them out, according to the suit. Boone allegedly told Becker he would send him the shipping tracking number and insurance information. UPS picked them up the same day.
But after several weeks the professor in Florida told Becker he never received them, the plaintiff claimed. On Aug. 14, Becker called Boone who forwarded the tracking number. Becker learned that the packages were still in New Jersey awaiting delivery. By the end of August the fossils still hadn’t been delivered and Boone told Becker he was “working on the issue,” the lawsuit said. Becker reportedly contacted UPS directly on Sept. 30.
UPS allegedly told the professor that its fraud department “intercepted/confiscated” the packages because William Peterson failed to pay the bills from the shipping company and was result the school’s account was canceled.
“Our client learned that the packages were dumped at an unidentified landfill somewhere in or around Nashville, Tennessee,” the lawsuit said.
Lawyers for Becker allege that UPS canceled the school’s account in April 2024 and Boone knew about it since early July at the latest. Becker is accusing the school and Boone of negligence and seeks an unspecified amount of damages. He filed the lawsuit earlier this month in Passaic County Superior Court.
A spokesman for the school declined comment. Boone did not immediately return a message. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Albert J. Seibert, could not be reached.
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