Judge Rules on Former Stratford Dispatcher's Lawsuit Against Town

A U.S. District judge sided with the Town of Stratford and dismissed a lawsuit by former dispatcher Keely Spada Rotunno, who claimed that her First Amendment rights were violated when she was fired in 2011, according to the Connecticut Post.

The Post reports Rotunno (who was a senior dispatcher and union steward) alleged in the lawsuit that she was terminated in retribution for having repeatedly complained that public safety was endangered by the lack of adequate staff.

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However, the judge agreed with the town that she had been fired for “just cause” and ruled that the First Amendment protection didn’t apply because Rotunno made her comments to her employers as part of her official duties and not in public as a private citizen, according to the Post.

The town fired Rotunno in 2011 following a series of warnings and disciplinary actions in which she had been accused of angry confrontations with fellow employees and town officials, including the police chief, according to the Post.

Read the full story at the Connecticut Post here.