Judge Dismisses Yorktown Highway Chief's Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Supervisor

A defamation lawsuit against former Yorktown Supervisor Susan Siegel, that was brought by Yorktown Highway Superintendent Eric Dibartolo and highway department employee Patricia Cole in 2011, was dismissed this week. 

The lawsuit, filed on May 17, 2011, alleged Siegel had had told several people that the two employees – DiBartolo and Cole – were having a sexual relationship.

In an 11-page summary judgement, released on July 8, 2013, Supreme Court Justice William J. Giacomo held that Siegel’s comments were made in the course of her duty as a public figure who was discussing town business. He found that her comments were "absolutely privileged and entitled to immunity."

He also found no evidence that her remarks were defamatory.

In his ruling, Judge Giacomo pointed out that the people Siegel had conversations with regarding the need to borrow a bucket truck from the school district to put up flags around town while the town's own truck was being repaired in 2010, had no recollection Siegel had used the term "sexual" relationship. 

According to their dispositions, one person didn't give Siegel’s comment about a relationship "much thought," while another person said he didn’t know who Siegel meant had a relationship. 

Read more about the defamation lawsuit in this article on Patch. 

"I'm pleased that the issue has finally been resolved," Siegel said in a statement released to the media. "As the judge noted in his ruling, there was a strained relationship between Mr. DiBartolo and myself dating back to January when the Town Board voted to eliminate the Director of Labor Operations position. From the beginning I felt his lawsuit was an act of vindictive retaliation.”

The town’s legal costs and expenses for the defamation lawsuit were covered by the town’s insurance policy, Siegel said. The only out-of-pocket expense to the town was $31 – money used to cover Siegel's parking when she had to give a deposition. 

"I could have asked the town to pay for my own attorney using taxpayer funds (as distinct from the attorney hired by the insurance company to defend the town whose cost was covered by the insurance policy) but I chose not to have taxpayers incur this additional expense," Siegel said. 

There are several other lawsuits in which DiBartolo has been involved in. 

In 2010, in a discrimination case against DiBartolo and two Highway Department employees by a former highway department employee, the town agreed to a $75,000 out-of-court settlement that wasn’t covered by the town’s insurance, according to Siegel.

In another case, also not covered by the town’s insurance policy, the town is currently paying for an attorney to defend DiBartolo in a separate lawsuit filed in 2012. The cost to taxpayers for the lawsuit, according to Siegel, has been $23,000. 

Editor's Note: The article has been updated since its original publication to include more information.