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SPARTA
RESIDENT SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR OVER 1 MILLION DOLLARS
A $1,025,000
settlement previously reached on the eve of a September 29,
2003 trial in Hudson County was confirmed by the Honorable Maurice
Gallipoli, J.S.C. on November 21, 2003. The settlement ended
three years of litigation involving the alleged harassment,
retaliation and termination of the Borough of East Newark’s
former Police Chief, Kenneth Lindsay. Mr. Lindsay is a Sussex
County resident, who resides in Sparta.
On October
27, 2003, Thomas N. Ryan, Esq. of the Sparta law firm of Laddey,
Clark & Ryan, attorneys for Mr. Lindsay, former Borough
of East Newark Police Chief, filed an Order to Show Cause which
was heard before Judge Gallipoli to resolve legal wrangling
over whether the defendants named in the suit, East Newark and
its administrator, Walter Roman, had given its consent to the
Borough’s insurance carriers to settle the case back on
September 26. The Court found that consent had been given by
the defendants and directed payment of the settlement proceeds.
Gallipoli also ordered the defendants to pay an additional $7,500
to plaintiff for attorneys’ fees and $3,780 for interest
on the withheld settlement proceeds.
The settlement
arose out of a suit filed by Lindsay on December 28, 2000. Lindsay
had served as the Chief of Police of the Borough for the past
twelve (12) years, having begun his service with the Borough
Police Department in 1983 as a patrolman. For approximately
eighteen (18) months, in 1998 to 1999, Lindsay served in a joint
capacity, simultaneously serving as Chief of Police and the
Interim Borough Administrator. In 1999, Lindsay voluntarily
resigned from the position of Interim Borough Administrator.
In 2000,
Walter Roman, a former Borough Councilman, was appointed Borough
Administrator. The lawsuit alleges Roman immediately began interfering
in the day to day operation of the police department. Lindsay
claimed that when he complained of this illegal interference
to the County Prosecutor, as well as to the Mayor and Council,
he was subjected to unrelenting harassment and retaliation.
Thereafter, in May of 2000, Chief Lindsay began suffering from
hypertension and anxiety to such a degree that caused him to
take leave from work. The plaintiff’s Complaint alleged
that the severe emotional distress Lindsay experienced was a
result of being subjected to unlawful and harassing conduct
by Roman, Borough Mayor Joseph Smith and the Borough Council.
The Complaint alleges that after going out on sick leave, the
Borough continued to engage in a course of harassment and retaliation
against the Chief which included withholding compensation and
benefits.
The settlement
was achieved after three days of intensive mediation facilitated
by Robert Marguilies, Esq., of Marguilies, Wind, Harrington
& Knopf. The defendants were represented by trial counsel
George Helfrich of Marshal, Denehey, Warner, Coleman & Doggin;
by Borough Attorney Neil Marotta of Marotta & Garvey; and
by Stephen Edelstein of Schwartz, Simon, Edelstein, Celso &
Kessler. The defendants’ insurance carriers were individually
represented: Diamond State Insurance Company was represented
by Francis V. Cook of Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman; and Zurich
Insurance Company was represented by John Coyne of McElroy,
Deutsch & Mulvaney.
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