Monday, December 31, 2012
City admits no liability in out-of-court settlement, closing six-month legal battle.
The sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Hyattsville City Police Department officer has ended in an out-of-court settlement, according to court records. The settlement brings to a close six months of proceedings before the US District Court for the District of Maryland which saw Marsha Lessard, who worked as a city police officer from 2005 through 2009, allege a pattern of sexual harassment within the police department during her time there. Hyattsville officials announced the settlement in a brief statement distributed on Friday afternoon. According to the statement, the case was settled "on terms wherein the city admitted no liability for any of the allegations." Specific details about the settlement were not immediately …
Friday, October 5, 2012
Case now moves on to discovery phase.
A judge has denied a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against the city of Hyattsville by a former city police officer. Marsha Lessard, who worked as a police officer in the Hyattsville Police Department from 2005 to 2009, filed a lawsuit in June alleging a pattern of sexually harassment and discriminatory behavior within the city's police department. Her lawsuit included allegations of sexual assault and charges that city police management were indifferent to her complaints. Lawyers for the city had filed a motion to dismiss Lessard's lawsuit back in August, saying that many of Lessard's claims were too old to be actionable. In denying the city's motion to dismiss, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland …
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
City attorneys press judge to dismiss lawsuit filed against Hyattsville police department.
Lawyers for the city of Hyattsville have reiterated calls to dismiss a federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the city police department by one of its former officers. In court documents filed last week in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, city attorneys pushed their argument that the former police officer, Marsha Lessard, waited too long to file her complaint. The filing by city attorneys comes after Lessard's attorneys asked the court to reject an earlier motion by the city to dismiss her lawsuit. Lessard's lawsuit, filed in late June, alleged that she was subject to sexual harassment during her time on the city police force between 2005 and 2009 when she was fired. Lessard also alleges that she was retaliated …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Hyattsville's law enforcement liability insurance claims are several hundred times higher than other Maryland cities.
Years of lawsuits and insurance claims against the city police department, among other city departments, has left Hyattsville with some of the worst insurance statistics in the state across a number of categories, according to data released by city officials last week. "We need to make some changes internally to be better," acknowledged Acting City Administrator and City Treasurer Elaine Stookey in an interview earlier this week. "We may need to think about doing business differently than we have done in the past." Police Liability Insurance Pays Out Frequently The data showed that the city's law enforcement liability insurance was paying claims at an alarming rate. Out of the 83 statewide members of the Local Government Insurance Trust …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Attorneys for former Hyattsville police officer say city lawyers ignored large sections of her complaint.
Lawyers for Marsha Lessard, the former city police officer who has brought a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the Hyattsville City Police Department, have asked the judge to reject a motion filed by city attorneys to dismiss Lessard's lawsuit. Last month, city attorneys asked for Lessard's lawsuit to be dismissed on the grounds that she had waited too long to file her complaint. They also argued that Lessard had failed to demonstrate that her allegations of retaliation were connected to her pursuit of an initial sexual harassment complaint filed with county and federal civil rights regulatory bodies in 2009. But Lessard's attorneys rejected those arguments as "patently false and disingenuous" in court filings on Monday, …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Work to be done is related to open lawsuits against city of Hyattsville.
The Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved a $10,000 contract with former city administrator Elaine Murphy to conduct legal research relating to lawsuits filed against the city. The move was criticized by local activist David Marshall, who said that the measure was too broad for the public to realistically know the nature of the work Murphy would be providing. Mayor Marc Tartaro responded, saying that her knowledge of the city administration makes it easier and less expensive to conduct the legal research than if the city had hired a legal clerk. Tartaro also noted that Murphy's assistance was requested by the city attorney. Murphy has been retained earlier in the year by the city council, also to conduct legal research. Murphy's …
Monday, July 30, 2012
Attorneys argue that a former police officer waited too long to lodge hostile-workplace complaints.
Attorneys for the city of Hyattsville have asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by former city police officer Marsha Lessard alleging a pattern of workplace sexual harassment at the city police department. The motion to dismiss, filed late last week in U.S. District Court in Maryland, argues that while there is "no genuine dispute as to any material fact" alleged in the lawsuit, Lessard waited too long to file her complaints for the suit to be considered. The City's Side In filing for motion to dismiss, the city submitted dozens of pages of internal memos that shed light on many of Lessard's allegations from the point of view of the Hyattsville Police Department. Most notably, the documents confirm that the city asked the Maryland …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Hyattsville resident says city should be more proactive in its response to charges of sexual harassment in police department.
A prominent local activist took city leaders to task for not offering a more definitive response to the allegations of a recently filed lawsuit alleging a pattern of sexual harassment in the Hyattsville police department. In comments issued before the city council at this Monday's city council meeting, Hyattsville resident David Marshall admonished city leaders for dragging its feet in response to a federal sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the city. "The 11 of you are politicians. Reading that document, it's the biggest black eye in the city," said Marshall. "At this point, I'd like an explanation and some sort of guidance as to what the city is supposed to do." Last month, the city of Hyattsville was sued by former police officer …
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Council discusses sexual harassment lawsuit behind closed doors.
If you tuned into last night's Hyattsville City Council meeting wondering if there would be any reaction to the recently filed federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment on the city police force, keep wondering. City council did discuss the lawsuit, filed last month by former Hyattsville police officer Marsha Lessard, but only behind closed doors at the tail end of the meeting. Council members unanimously approved a motion to enter closed session to discuss the case with city attorney Richard Colaresi, among other topics. After the meeting, which ended around 11 p.m. following the hour-and-a-half long closed session, city council members were reluctant to talk about the case in any detail as they filed out of council chambers. Police …
Monday, July 16, 2012
Hyattsville City Council considers a number of law-enforcement related agenda items tonight.
A number of police and law enforcement measures go before the Hyattsville City Council tonight. As reported earlier today, the city council will consider accepting grant funds for a new round of police anti-corruption training for city police managers and other local law enforcement agencies. The training program was suggested by the Local Government Insurance Trust, which provides insurance for the city of Hyattsville and other local Maryland governments, which was concerned about the record of lawsuits and other claims filed against the city police department. In addition to that, the city council will consider a measure to reclassify two acting corporal position on the police department to full time corporals. Readers may remember …
George Carroll
9:36 pm on Saturday, October 27, 2012
A similar situation is happening in Cheverly as well. That will be coming out in the news soon. more ›