Former New Castle County Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi is suing New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon and the County for violations of the New Castle County Employee Protection Act, the Delaware Employee Protection Act, for violations of his civil rights (namely Freedom of Speech) under 42 U.S.C Section 1983, for Stigma-Plus Defamation under 42 U.S.C 1988, and for a declaratory judgment regarding violations of the Freedom of Information Act. The complaint, included below and filed yesterday, is an interesting read on several levels.
As you may recall, Grimaldi was fired by Gordon two months ago (with a classic “Fuck you Dave, you’re fired”) when Grimaldi allegedly confronted Gordon over the conduct of the county risk manager. In what later evolved into what I have gloriously named “Yankgate,” Gordon denied Grimaldi’s allegations and instead alleged that Grimaldi was fired for attempting to use his position with the county to get out of a ticket from an Elsmere police officer, an allegation that was later disproved when a dashcam recording of the traffic stop, as well as a recording of a phone call between Grimaldi and Elsmere Mayor Steve Burg, was released. In the recording, Burg instead offered to yank the ticket, and Grimaldi refused the offer.
In Grimaldi’s complaint, he alleges that “Gordon publicly misrepresented the circumstances of Grimaldi’s firing, telling the press he was fired for attempting to use his position to influence the outcome of a traffic stop.” More from WDEL:
The complaint further claimed Gordon has taken steps to retaliate against Grimaldi, like canceling his health insurance while he had pneumonia, offering him no severance, and failing to provide a post-termination hearing to clear his name of any alleged official misconduct. Grimaldi also claimed his First Amendment rights were threatened while on the job and that Gordon threatened members of his administration with being fired if they talked to Grimaldi.
Here is the entire complaint. And this is me:
David Grimaldi v. Thomas P Gordon by I1I1I1I1I1I111I
