Scarinci Hollenbeck Successfully Defends Frivolous Political Lawsuit

Judge Rules in Favor of West New York on Frivolous Political Lawsuit

Congratulations to Fran Barto who successfully defended a civil rights action brought against our client, Town of West New York and Mayor Felix Roque, M.D. Plaintiff Dominique Demarquet is a former secretary for the West New York Board of Education (“BOE”); she was terminated by the BOE in October of 2011. Demarquet was paid by the BOE for approximately two months following her termination, and thereafter filed a lawsuit, claiming that her firing was based on political retaliation. In her suit, she alleged civil rights violations, conspiracy and related causes of action against the Town, the Board of Education and the Mayor. After a contentious discovery period, the Court granted summary judgment on behalf of all defendants, noting that the Plaintiff did not present sufficient facts and evidence to support her political retaliation claims and that the Plaintiff’s argument contained numerous hearsay, opinions, and speculations which were all excluded as evidence.

According to Robert E. Levy, head of litigation at the Firm,  “The case was well briefed and argued.  It involved unique areas of law such as adverse inferences from exercising 5th amendment privilege, hearsay contained in public records and reports as well as dual entity liability in employment matters. Kudos to Fran Barto who did a terrific job on the brief.”

According to Fran Barto, litigation associate, “After extensive briefing and passionate oral argument from both sides, Judge Jablonski correctly decided that all of the Plaintiff’s proposed evidence was inadmissible. This case goes to show that the Town of West New York is ready, willing and able to fight and prevail against meritless lawsuits.”

In an official statement, Mayor Roque said “This is a win for the hard working tax payers of West New York.” said Mayor Roque. “The town will not be held hostage by individuals seeking to line their pockets by filing frivolous lawsuits against it. This case demonstrates that the town will vigorously defend against any and all such claims.” Mayor Roque went on to thank the attorneys at Scarinci Hollenbeck for their good work in defending the town.

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About Frances “Fran” Barto
Frances E. Barto focuses her practice on the handling of commercial litigation, representing plaintiffs, defendants and their principals; representation of municipalities, counties and other public entities with respect to tort claims and more complex constitutional issues in State and Federal Courts.

Also See:

Public Law Group – https://scarincihollenbeck.com/practices/public-law/

Litigation Group – https://scarincihollenbeck.com/practices/litigation/