Sortino Obtains Dismissal of Civil Rights Litigation

Municipal Law specialist, Anthony M. Sortino, obtained the dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit brought against G&I client, the Town of Greece. The Town removed the Plaintiff from its list of towing contractors after determining that he had overcharged a customer. The Town then referred the matter to the Attorney General who concluded that the Plaintiff had overcharged numerous consumers. In the case of Geiger v. Town of Greece and Gannett Co., the Plaintiff asserted, among other claims, that the Town depirved him of his civil rights by terminating his towing contract without due process and by retaliating against him for exercising his right to free speech. Judge Charles J. Siragusa, United States District Court, dismissed the free speech claim because no speech of a public concern was involved and because the Plaintiff could not demonstrate any connection between his speech and the Town's decision to remove the Plaintiff from its list of towing contractors. The Judge also dismissed the Plaintiff's procedural due process claim because the Plaintiff did not have a valid property interest since his towing contract was terminable at will by the Town's Chief of Police. Sortino added that "the Town is now seeking payment of attorneys fees for prevailing on what we deem to be a meritless lawsuit."