Ten Norwalk firefighters named in lawsuit

Firefighters named in lawsuit
By JILL BODACH
Hour Staff Writer
Ten Norwalk firefighters have been named as co-defendants in a Superior Court lawsuit filed by four men who say they were unjustly passed over for hire by the Norwalk Fire Commission in 1997.
The co-defendants are Peter Brown, Louis D'Acunto, James DeFelice, Brian Kilcoyne, Robert Mossup, Charles Papadopoulos, Jason Penna, John Petrides, Craig Sarris and Iordanis Stefanides.
The men who filed the lawsuit -- James Demarest, John Bolton, Brad Carlson and David Chaloux -- claim that the co-defendants were hired or placed on the list to be hired even though they were ineligible and/or their test scores were not the highest among the pool of applicants. Among the reasons for ineligibility listed in the lawsuit are lack of proper certification, questionable volunteer firefighter training at "defunct" fire fighting company "Hope Hose Company," family ties to then-Mayor Frank Esposito and an applicant who was underage.
Representatives for the city label the claims outrageous and say they will do whatever they can to ensure that the jobs of the 10 firefighters are not put in jeopardy.
"These 10 men have served the city for seven or eight years and by the time this goes to trial, they will have been there as many as 12 years," Norwalk attorney Lou Ciccarello said. "I would find it to be extremely difficult for any judge to take their jobs back after they have served the city so well for so long. We are going to fight as hard as we can to put this to rest for good." In addition to seeking more than $15,000 in damages, the plaintiffs are asking for a jury trial and that the firefighters be removed from their posts. Ciccarello questioned the motivation of the plaintiffs, pointing to the fact that one of them, David Chaloux, took the fire department's test for a second time in 2002, passed and was offered a position at the department but declined.
"I'm just dumbfounded by that," Ciccarello said. "I don't know exactly what they're looking for." A representative from the office of Jerry Leaphart, the attorney for the four, said Chaloux declined Norwalk's offer because he was already employed by the Wilton Fire Department.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 1997. In 2001, Judge John Ryan ruled that the Fire Commission had not misused its discretionary powers in refusing to hire the four men. An appeal was filed by Leaphart on the grounds that a jury was not present at trial, certain evidence was not referenced and that the judge had an outside relationship with one of the fire commissioners, which comprised his ability to be objective.
A second judge, Judge Barry Schaller, later ruled that the 10 firefighters hired should have been listed as co-defendants.
Ciccarello said that the city was confused by the judge's decision because Jeffry Spahr, who was lead counsel in the case, filed a motion to have the trial dismissed based on the grounds that the 10 firefighters were not named as co-defendants. However, Spahr's motion was denied. "[Schaller's ruling] was a very odd result of a case which we won," Ciccarello said.
However, Ciccarello said the city is confident that it will be victorious the second time around as well. "We won the trial in the courts on the merits of the case the first time and we are going to do it again," Ciccarello said. "We are confident that the city's rights and the rights of the appointed firefighters will be vindicated again."
Jill Bodach can be reached at (203) 354-1046.