Depositions Coming in Cubilla Lawsuit Against the Town, Jaskiewicz

Depositions will soon be taken in the

To date, the town has paid $10,000 fighting the case – its “deductible obligation towards legal expenses.” The legal bills are forwarded from Kainen, Escalera & McHale (the town’s law firm handling the case) directly to the town’s liability insurance company, according to current Mayor Ron McDaniel’s office. The insurance company for the town “oversees the direction of the claim and the management of the invoices.”

The case continues to meander its way through the court process amid myriad motions from both sides. Cubilla’s attorney Heena Kapadia of Madsen, Prestley & Parentau LLC in New London said, “The next step in the discovery phase is to take depositions.”  Kapadia declined to provide any additional comment on the case.

Cubilla’s suit alleges she was illegally terminated, her free speech rights were violated and she was retaliated against by the town and Jaskiewicz.

The history

Cubilla was hired in 1989 as an administrative assistant to the then-first selectman; during her tenure, that top governmental position became a mayor.

According to the lawsuit, Cubilla never had any human resources or personnel management training. In 2009, the town hired an HR director; Cubilla served as both HR assistant and mayoral assistant. In 2011, the Town Council voted not to continue funding the HR position and the human resources duties fell to Cubilla. Jaskiewicz was the mayor at the time. Cubilla told Jaskiewicz  she was not qualified to take on those duties since she did not have an HR background. She referred him to past discussions in which he agreed that in order to protect employees’ rights and protect the Town, an HR director with a background in HR was necessary.

The lawsuit says, “At this point, Jaskiewicz became angry and loud. He began to scream at (Cubilla) saying things like she would ‘do what he told her to do,’ that ‘he was the boss,’ that she would ‘not question him’ and that he would ‘not allow her to be ‘uncooperative.’” He allegedly  “slammed a folder on a cabinet three times, harder and harder” and that “during the screaming, he was making fists with his hands.”  

The allegations continue: Jaskiewicz “went into his office and slammed the door;” at this point, Cubilla was in “shock” and was unable to move. She did not respond to Jaskiewicz as she was “concerned that his behavior would escalate at a time when there were children and camp counselors in the vicinity.”

The suit says Cubilla began crying, and Jaskiewicz said, she could do the HR duties or that she could “take her stuff and get out.” The complaint says Cubilla was “just too traumatized and upset to respond in any manner. Due to the trauma caused by the events … (Cubilla) was unable to leave her home and required to stay in bed for several days.”

Her lawsuit alleges that the Town has attempted to prevent her from collecting unemployment benefits by “falsely advising the Department of Labor that she resigned” and “issued a false statement to the press” that Cubilla “left her employment for personal reasons which is not true.”

Cubilla’s contention is she was “terminated because she spoke out on unethical and illegal practices, mismanagement and abuse of authority, and because she complained about job duties which could result in violations of state and federal law; employment was terminated because she spoke out on matters of public concern.”

It is also alleged that Jaskiewicz, retaliated against Cubilla and “subjected her to harassment and intimidated, threatened, retaliated, and ultimately terminated her employment due to her protected (right to free) speech.”

Cubilla’s claim is that she has suffered damages including “economic losses from the loss of her employment, mental anguish, emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment, loss of enjoyment of life, harm to reputation.”

Recent employee lawsuits

In February the Town Council Wednesday voted unanimously to settle two lawsuits filed by now former employees; one who was fired -- Tom McNally -- and one who retired, Richard Lenda, the latter alleging he was treated unfairly by Lt. Leonard Bunnell and received unfavorable performance reviews that cost him jobs after the Montville Police department. McNally alleged his firing was politically motivated.

Montville Patch filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the settlement case files and learned and .

Kapadia is an attorney in the same law firm that represented McNally. 

Montville Mayor McDaniel routinely declines to comment on pending litigation and personnel matters. 

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