Town, former police captain settle lawsuit

STAMFORD -- Mark Kordick, the former Greenwich police captain that sued the town for wrongful termination, has accepted a $650,000 offer to settle his case.

A trial was scheduled to begin on Sept. 21 but will not proceed after both Kordick and the town of Greenwich submitted their settlement agreement in state Superior Court in Stamford on Friday.

The case stems from the 2019 election, when Kordick planted fake "Trump / Camillo" campaign signs to link then-first selectman candidate Fred Camillo to then-President Donald Trump.

Kordick admitted to planting the signs in October 2019 before he was put on administrative leave. Camillo won that election and then became Kordick's boss as the town's police commissioner.

Kordick was fired in April 2020 and he filed a lawsuit against the town in June 2020, claiming that his free speech rights were violated.

For months the public did not know who planted the signs. The saga was dubbed "signgate" by some in town.

In court on Friday, lawyers representing the town of Greenwich described details of the settlement, including that Kordick's case will be withdrawn with prejudice.

The settlement also stipulates that Kordick cannot seek employment with the town of Greenwich in the future, but he is still allowed to receive his police department pension and he is free to seek elected office in town. Kordick is currently a member of the Representative Town Meeting.

Various Greenwich town bodies approved their end of the settlement this week. Lawyers from both sides were hashing out the details of the settlement up until last night.

"This kind of happened quickly," Lewis Chimes, the lawyer representing Kordick, told the judge.

In a statement, Chimes said the settlement was a victory for his client.

"The Town of Greenwich's eleventh hour $650,000 settlement of Mark Kordick's free speech lawsuit after jury selection and one week prior to the commencement of trial is an unequivocal and resounding victory for Captain Kordick," Chimes said. "Between this settlement, the earlier settlements reached with Fred Camillo and Jack Kriskey, and Kordick's retirement pension, Kordick has been fully compensated for his economic losses from his wrongful discharge, and the settlement rendered it unnecessary for him to go to trial to obtain further compensation for his discharge."

Lawyers from Marino, Zabel & Schellenberg, the firm representing the town, declined to comment upon exiting the courtroom.

Republicans on the Board of Estimate and Taxation, one of the bodies that authorized the settlement, said on Wednesday that the town was basically forced into the settlement by its insurance company, Allied World.

"The insurance clause that the insurance company exercised, quite frankly, has hijacked what would have been a fair hearing in front of a jury - a group of this individual's peers - to decide, once and for all, whether the town would prevail in the termination of this individual," Karen Fassuliotis said during a special BET meeting this week, according to a copy of her remarks.

Chimes wrote that Fassuliotis's claims were "nonsense" and that the town could have disregarded Allied World's advice and gone to trial if they were confident in their case.

"The Town of Greenwich, had it engaged in a thoughtful analysis of the merits of its case and the risks, could have settled this case several years ago for the same settlement reached today, and saved itself hundreds of thousands of dollars," Chimes wrote. "The Town of Greenwich is extraordinarily wealthy and could have gone to trial and paid any verdict. They certainly could have rejected their insurance company's advice and gone forward without coverage if Ms. Fassuliotus and the Republican caucus truly believed that they would win."

Democrats on the BET estimated that the case, including fees to attorneys and the settlement payout, will cost the town $1.5 million.

Chimes also chastised the town for taxing judicial resources by not settling sooner and for wasting the time of the people that went through jury selection earlier this month.

The $650,000 settlement will be paid by both the town and its insurance coverage, but it is unclear exactly how much the town will contribute before insurance kicks in.

The settlement means several town officials, including First Selectman Fred Camillo and Police Chief James Heavey, will avoid testifying about the events of the case.

Still, some evidence gives insight into Camillo's mindset in 2019.

The town asked the judge to grant summary judgment in late 2022 and in his decision, Judge Edward Krumeich cited a text sent to a campaign worker on Oct. 28, 2019. "He is the biggest scum bag of all," Camillo wrote, referencing Kordick. "He better pray I do not win because I would be police commissioner and he will be gone."

The town was planning to argue that Kordick's signs were not a form of protected speech and he could not prove he was fired for exercising his speech rights, according to court documents.

Kordick had named First Selectman Fred Camillo and his former campaign manager Jack Kriskey in his suit. Both Camillo and Kriskey were voluntarily dropped from the suit earlier this year after reaching settlements with Kordick.

Krumeich ended up dropping two defendants -- former First Selectman Peter Tesei and former chairman of the Republican Town Committee Richard DiPrieta -- from the suit, but allowed the case to proceed.

On Friday, Judge Charles Lee asked Kordick how he was feeling before accepting the settlement resolution. Kordick's reply was short.

"I feel okay," he said.