She sued Murphy for closing her business — now she’s out of business

A kickboxing facility owner who was suing Gov. Phil Murphy over his pandemic executive orders has closed her business.

Darlene Pallay filed the lawsuit claiming that when Murphy issued Executive Orders 103, 104 and 107, invoking the Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act, he essentially took control of businesses that were ordered closed. But in doing so, he violated the same law for not implementing the compensation program mandated by the act.

In the meantime, Pallay has now had to close her business, CKO Kickboxing Franklin in Sussex County, as her membership dropped from 200 to 20.

She says that she doesn't see Murphy raising the capacity on indoor workouts past the current 25%.

“This has crushed me. I can’t even make a dent in my rent,” Pallay said.

She said she has operated the business for more than a decade to support her children.

A filing in her case says that she is facing eviction and that “she has creditors and she has expenses she cannot afford to pay.”

On her Facebook page, Pallay wrote, "I still have to pay utilities, payroll, business insurance, workers comp insurance, website maintenance, database maintenance, credit card processing fees, and a million other little things that escape me right now. I don’t pay myself. I never have. If there is profit the end of my year, that is my 'pay.'"

During the pandemic, Palley was honored by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. 5th District, for holding free online fitness classes.

Superior Court judges and her lawyers are arguing over whether the case should be heard first in the court's law division, where most cases begin, or the appellate division.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ