Greenwich Town Attorney Defends Decision On Kordick Settlement

GREENWICH, CT — The town attorney has issued a statement defending the decision to settle the civil case between the town and former Greenwich police Capt. Mark Kordick.

Town bodies moved to settle the case for $650,000 last week which avoided a jury trial that was slated to begin this week.

Kordick previously admitted to paying for and installing fake political signs around town just prior to the 2019 election that connected then-President Donald J. Trump with Republican First Selectman Fred Camillo, who was running for a first term in office at the time.

In April 2020, Kordick, a Democrat, was ultimately fired from the Greenwich Police Department after a 32-year career. Kordick filed a lawsuit against Greenwich in June 2020 claiming he was retaliated against for exercising his "constitutionally protected right to engage in off-duty political speech."

The case had been referred to as "signgate" in town.

"The Town of Greenwich was fully prepared to go to trial in the case of Mark Kordick v. Town of Greenwich, et al. However, the town had no viable option but to comply with the demand of its insurance carrier to end the case," Town Attorney Barbara Schellenberg said. "It would have been irresponsible for the Town to breach its contractual obligations, proceed without insurance coverage, or compromise its future insurability by ignoring the demand of its insurance carrier."

Schellenberg added that the town "strongly disputed" Kordick's claim and "stands by its position and defenses concerning that claim."

"The town maintains that there is no constitutional protection for speech that is intentionally false or deceptive, or recklessly indifferent to the truth. The town also maintains that there is no constitutional protection for speech by an employee that disrupts, or threatens to disrupt, the operations of the department in which that employee works," Schellenberg added. "For all of the reasons argued by the town in the litigation, the town remains confident that it would have prevailed on the law if this case had proceeded to trial. Ultimately, Mark Kordick resolved his claim against the town for a fraction of the amount he demanded in the litigation."

Board of Estimate and Taxation member Karen Fassuliotis, who is also chair of the BET Law Committee, gave similar reasoning for the settlement in comments to the BET last week. She noted her comments reflected the views of the Republican caucus, but not the full BET.

"The action by the insurance company is contractual and we have little choice in approving their demand. To reject their demand would be irresponsible, would potentially put our insurance policies at risk in the future and would potentially cost the town millions if the town would lose. That is not a roll of the dice I, for one, and I think the majority on this board, are willing to take," Fassuliotis said.

On Facebook last week, Greenwich Democrats posted comments from Leslie Moriarty, Democratic caucus leader on the BET.

"Our town will spend $1.5 million of taxpayer funds on this single lawsuit, and our insurance company will need to add to that total. This is not a typical cash outlay for the town, especially for a wrongful termination case, and residents should be interested in understanding the facts of the case," she said.