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Former Milton fire chief appeals suit to Delaware Supreme Court

Rogers seeks overturning of lower court dismissal
March 2, 2018

The former chief of Milton Fire Department has taken his case against the department to Delaware Supreme Court.

Lynn Rogers is appealing the Delaware Superior Court’s dismissal, on technical grounds, of Rogers’ claims of defamation, civil conspiracy, due process  and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Judge Richard Cooch dismissed the suit because the claims occurred outside the two-year window for bringing such claims.

Rogers’ attorney, Gary Alderson, said an opening brief has not yet been drafted. A concurring case involving Rogers and the department is ongoing in Delaware Court of Chancery, Alderson said.

A member of the department from 1969 to 2014, Rogers had served as chief from 1979 to 2008. He filed suit against the department and Secretary John Bushey in February 2017 stating that on June 29, 2014, the department’s board stripped him of his membership rights and privileges and later denied him reinstatement.

Rogers had been an honorary department member, but after he was stripped of membership, he said he was not allowed to attend department functions, or to respond as a volunteer firefighter. Rogers sought to reverse the board’s decision, and compensatory damages.

Rogers claimed Bushey and other board members publicly and privately criticized his leadership and firefighting abilities, and that Bushey sent letters to other firefighter associations saying Rogers had no authority to represent the department.

Bushey and the department argued that Rogers’ claims did not occur within two years of Rogers bringing his lawsuit. Cooch agreed, saying Rogers failed to identify a specific date for which a claim could be made within the two years of filing his lawsuit.

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