Liccione and Shapiro of Jaspan Schlesinger LLP win dismissal of case against Riverhead town attorney

Jaspan Schlesinger LLP, led by partner Maureen Liccione and associate Daniel Shapiro, has won summary judgment dismissing litigation commenced by a local real estate developer, against Riverhead town attorney Dawn Thomas. The federal lawsuit sought to hold Thomas personally liable for a stop-work order which was issued on behalf of the town building department to prevent allegedly illegal clearing of a parcel owned by the plaintiff on Rte. 58. "I was pleased but not at all surprised that the federal court found that the claims against me were baseless," Thomas said. "I am quite confident that the balance of the lawsuit will ultimately be dismissed and that the others named in the suit will, like me, be vindicated with regard to the actions taken to enforce town code and protect the environment." "The court ruled that someone cannot be held liable for merely doing his or her job," Liccione said. Jaspan Schlesinger has successfully litigated several cases where municipal employees or contractors were sued personally as the result of performing their job responsibilities. "Suing someone for doing their job in a way with which you might disagree is an abuse of the civil rights statutes. It is one thing to sue a municipality, but when you sue a municipal employee personally it has a chilling effect on the operation of local government," Liccione said. Founded in 1946, Jaspan Schlesinger LLP is a premier full-service law firm headquartered in Garden City, New York. The Firm's 60 attorneys provide quality legal services in virtually every area of practice, including litigation; banking and financial services; education law; corporate law; municipal law; election law; complex commercial litigation; real estate; creditors' rights; tax certiorari and condemnation matters; land use and zoning; labor; estates and trusts; matrimonial law; taxation; and environmental matters.