Statement Regarding Ongoing Litigation

Comments have been made recently concerning a sexual abuse lawsuit that alleges an incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve 1982 involving the Garfield Cadets. Although Cadets Arts & Entertainment (CAE) has appropriately declined to comment on the pending and ongoing legal matter, the case has been publicly available since its inception and now has become a topic of discussion. CAE provides this brief comment:

The alleged incident, which CAE disputes and denies, occurred more than 40 years ago on New Year’s Eve, not at an official event sponsored by the Garfield Cadets. CAE did not exist until 2020. In May 2019, New Jersey changed its law, extending the statute of limitations and providing a two-year window for civil actions and past sexual abuse claims. In September 2020, a lawsuit was filed against multiple entities bearing the names “the Cadets,” the “Garfield Cadets,” the “Cadets of Bergen County,” and fictitious parties as successor entities. YEA! and CAE were subsequently named as defendants.

The CAE board and the organization's attorneys have vigorously worked to defend the case and to oppose any finding of, among other things, successor liability. Mediation is scheduled for November. Until this lawsuit is resolved, CAE cannot further comment on it or CAE’s financial challenges.