Judge dismisses suit by former Milton Fire Department chief

A suit against the Milton Fire Department and one of its officers brought by former Milton Fire Department Chief Lynn Rogers has been dismissed on a technicality by a Delaware Superior Court judge.

Judge Richard Cooch ruled that Rogers’ claims of defamation, civil conspiracy, due process  and intentional infliction of emotional distress occurred outside the two-year statute of limitations for bringing such claims.

Rogers had been a member of the department from 1969 to 2014, serving as chief from 1979 to 2008. His suit, filed in February 2017, states that on June 29, 2014, the department’s board stripped him of his membership rights and privileges. Rogers also claimed the department denied him reinstatement on three occasions in 2015 and 2016.

Rogers had been an honorary member of the department, but after he was stripped of his membership rights, he said he was not allowed to participate in department functions, not even to respond as a volunteer firefighter.

In response, Rogers filed a lawsuit against John Bushey, now the department’s secretary, and the Milton Fire Department, seeking to have the board’s actions reversed, as well as compensatory damages. Rogers claimed that Bushey and other board members publicly and privately made negative remarks about Rogers’ 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 Rogers’ claims must be dismissed because none of the conduct alleged occurred within two years of Rogers bringing his lawsuit.

In his decision, Cooch said Rogers failed to identify a specific date for which a claim could be made within the two years of filing his lawsuit.

“Plaintiff learned of the board’s decision to revise his membership on June 29, 2014. It was on this date that plaintiff had a potentially cognizable claim and that the statute of limitations began to run,” Cooch said in his decision.

Attorneys for Rogers and Bushey could not be reached for comment.