During a 4-day hearing before the Merit Systems Protection Board in New York City, the Firm sought to overturn an unjust termination by presenting  claims of harmful error, sexual  harassment and inconsistent penalties.

​The Firm  moved for summary judgment as to liability on behalf of Bill Ratajack, the First Assistant Chief of the Brewster Fire Department who was terminated in August 2013 without notice of the charges against him or an opportunity to be heard in his own defense by the Joint Fire District and the Board of the Fire Department.  Plaintiffs rarely succeed in proving  Defendants’ liability for violations of the U.S. Constitution at the summary judgment stage because they must prove both that there are no material facts in dispute and that they are entitled to  relief under the law.  U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas, for the Southern District of New York, in a comprehensive 84-page decision, determined that Ratajack had a property right in his position, that the violation had occurred because of the policies of the Defendants, and that both entities were liable.

The Firm represented a 30-year veteran of the Stratford Fire Department, who obtained a heart and hypertension award in the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission, and retired from the Town with the largest pension in the history of the Fire Department.

New Milford Mayor David Gronbach, who was sworn into office in late 2015 after defeating incumbent Mayor Pat Murphy, refused to honor promises made to confidential employees of the prior mayoral administration regarding the continuation of health insurance benefits under the Town’s group insurance policy.  When he took office, Mayor Gronbach terminated certain employees who had worked under former Mayor Murphy and refused to provide them with continued health insurance benefits.  http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2016/01/05/news/local/931284.txt

The Firm successfully represented a claimant in an appeal before the State of Connecticut Employment Security Appeals Division, where a former employer alleged that the claimant was overpaid benefits and committed fraud in neglecting to report severance pay to the Unemployment Commission.  The claimant prevailed and was able to retain 100% of his unemployment benefits.

After ten years of litigation in federal court, the Firm negotiated a six-figure settlement against a local  school board for claims that the Board discriminated against an LGBT teacher in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act.  This is one of only a handful of cases in the Northeastern United States where an LGBT public employee survived summary judgment in federal court and obtained a six-figure settlement.

Reynoldo Rodriguez, a 30-year veteran of the Danbury Fire Department, filed a federal complaint against the City of Danbury, the Firefighter’s Union Local 801, and several present and former chiefs of the Department alleging a long-standing campaign of racial and gender-based harassment, which was ignored by the City, the Local, and Mr. Rodriguez’s superiors. http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Danbury-firefighter-accuses-department-of-6615814.php

On behalf of a trustee-investor, the Firm filed claims against an individual broker, a branch manager, and national  broker-dealer firm alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation/fraud, failure to supervise, and other compliance failures.  The claim involved the unsuitable sale of complex variable annuities to elderly  investors.

The Firm secured municipal pension benefits and life insurance proceeds for the widow of a 40-year veteran of the City of New London Fire Department.  The City failed to notify the widow that her late husband’s group life insurance policy would terminate after he was on sick leave for more than 365 days.  The Firm obtained the full amount of the insurance policy, with 8% interest, without the need for litigation.

After a courtside trial, the Honorable Judge Dale Radcliffe issued a decision that retired Assistant Fire Chief, Thomas S. Murray, was entitled to an increased retiree pension that took into account his heart and hypertension award from the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission.  Judge Radcliffe awarded pre and post-judgment interest and concluded that the Town’s defense to Plaintiff’s claims amounted to “an invitation to judicial anarchy.” http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Retired-Stratford-fire-chief-wins-100-000-bonus-6397586.php

Representing a 30-year veteran employee who alleged that a local school district denied her overtime wages for hours worked in excess of the normal workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Connecticut Minimum Wage Act,  the Firm negotiated a substantial settlement prior to trial and secured the proper calculation of her retiree pension.

Representing a 30-year veteran employee who alleged that a local school district denied her overtime wages for hours worked in excess of the normal workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Connecticut Minimum Wage Act,  the Firm negotiated a substantial settlement prior to trial and secured the proper calculation of her retiree pension.

The Firm represented an executive secretary, who alleged discrimination and was fired by a local municipality after making a claim under the Family and Medical Leave Act, in a widely-publicized federal lawsuit.  After years of contentious litigation, the Firm successfully resolved the claims, and as part of the settlement, restored the former secretary’s entitlement to municipal pension benefits.

U.S. District Judge Dominic J. Squatrito of the District of Connecticut granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgment by the defendants, Norwalk Board of Education... Continue Reading Here

DANBURY - Lawyers, a mayor and other officials walk into a room on Sept. 12, 2013. They talk for several hours. Two months later, a blogger reports about an alleged... Continue Reading Here

BREWSTER, NY - A former assistant fire chief in Brewster who was expelled for using a racial slur against fellow firefighters has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against the department and is seeking reinstatement. William J. Ratajack Jr., who was booted from the volunteer department... Continue Reading Here

DANBURY - First Amendment advocates are outraged over the city's efforts to restrict access to depositions in a federal lawsuit filed against Mayor Mark Boughton by his former... Continue Reading Here

DANBURY - Mayor Mark's Boughton's former executive secretary has filed a lawsuit against him and the city alleging that she was discriminated against when fired from the position last year. In the complaint, Wendy DaCosta, who worked for the mayor's office from... Continue Reading Here

NEW MILFORD - The final chapter in the saga of former police Lt. James Duda and town leaders is closed. On Wednesday, Mayor Patricia Murphy complied with The News-Times' Freedom of Information request for a copy of the settlement of a federal lawsuit that Duda, 46, filed in August against... Continue Reading Here

Danbury - The city has agreed to pay out $450,000 and hire two men as firefighters as part of a settlement reached in a three-year-old lawsuit. The five men who filed the suit claimed they were passed over for positions in the city's fire department because of mistakes that were made... Continue Reading Here

MONROE - A lawyer for a black family has sued four school officials for $1 million, accusing them of racial discrimination.The suit, filed on behalf of Gerald Isaac Jr. by Elisabeth Seieroe Mauer, a Ridgefield lawyer, claims that Sue Ebdon, principal at Stepney Elementary School, enforced... Continue Reading Here