The firing of a 14-year-old morgue employee in New Jersey has been upheld after he leaked details about the deaths of hockey stars Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
The employee disclosed the deaths of the brothers in a group chat shortly after they were killed in a biking accident in August 2024.
New Jersey Civil Service Commission members upheld the decision to terminate the employee, according to the Courier Post. The decision rejected a lesser penalty for the morgue worker, which was recommended by Administrative Law Judge Allison Friedman in December 2025.
In her initial ruling, the judge said the employee had played hockey “with both [of the accident victims] and looked up to them.”
Despite signing a nondisclosure agreement for his job, the employee “provided confidential information to his friend group,” which one of his friends then posted on social media.
“Due to the celebrity status of the victims, the social media post resulted in both the officer and the State Police receiving several phone calls from the media,” the ruling said.
At around 9 p.m. on the night of the accident involving the Gaudreaus, the morgue worker “texted a picture of his notes to his ice hockey teammates, who also knew the victims, to inform them that he would not be at the [10 p.m.] game that evening.”
The employee had “no explanation for why he would send the picture in the text, other than that he was in disbelief and acted out of emotion,” said the commission’s decision.
The commission found that the employee’s actions “led to a breach of confidential information that disrespected the deceased and violated their rights” and “damaged the first responders’ and the public’s view of the quality of work of the Office of the Medical Examiner.”
Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles in Salem County, New Jersey, on August 29, 2024, the night before their sister Katie Gaudreau’s wedding.
Sean M. Higgins, the man accused of hitting the brothers, was indicted on two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two counts of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, one count of tampering with physical evidence (fourth-degree) and leaving the scene of a fatal accident (second-degree).
In February, Higgins’ attorneys filed a notice of motion to dismiss some of the charges “based on a failure to present proper evidence.”
The attorneys argued that blood-alcohol testing was performed on Higgins’ plasma, not his blood, which resulted in a higher percentage.
Higgins’ lawyers cited an expert’s analysis, who claimed his blood alcohol content was actually 0.075 percent, below the legal limit for driving.
Prosecutor Michael Mestern said he would need time to review the defense’s motion and meet with the state’s own expert on how the blood testing was done before making any decisions about how the case will ultimately proceed.
Higgins’ next court date is scheduled for April 14.
