ELDRED, NY — Two out of four causes of action were this week dismissed in a lawsuit brought by a former constable, representing a partial win for the town of Highland.

A cause of action sets down facts that give a person the right to seek legal recourse against another party. Former constable Marc Anthony claimed four causes of action against the town in his lawsuit. 

In the first two, he claimed the town suspended the constabulary unlawfully. In so doing, he said, the town denied him the remedies he would have had if he’d been fired outright, including an appeal or a disciplinary hearing. 

In the third, Anthony claimed that Kaitlin Haas, the deputy town supervisor, leaked to outside parties information  from the town board’s investigation, which damaged Anthony’s reputation. In the fourth, he claimed the town discriminated against him because of his race. Anthony is Black. 

Anthony sued the town after it suspended its constable force in April 2022 while the town board investigated allegations of misconduct, many of them against Anthony. The town board replaced the constables with the Sullivan County sheriff’s deputies, which entered into a contract with the town at the end of that year. 

In his decision on December 14, Judge Stephen Schick approved the town board’s request to dismiss the first two causes of action and denied Anthony’s request to rule in his favor on the first three. 

A statement from the town board celebrates the decision as a “welcome confirmation” of their position. 

“This decision affirmed that the town had the right and ability to abolish the constabulary in the execution of their duties,” the statement says. 

The town board has argued throughout that it chose to replace the constables with deputies because they would give the same coverage at a lower cost and with a lower liability to the town. 

Stacey Van Malden, Anthony’s attorney, says she can still request that the two causes of action be reinstated if she finds through discovery — the pre-trial process where each party requests information about the other side’s claims — that the town made its choice in bad faith.

“So, I think the town is a bit ahead of itself saying they have been fully vindicated," she said.

Kaitlin Haas said the board appreciated the “thoughtful review” Judge Schick took of the evidence, and the time he took to listen to both the plaintiffs and the defendant before deciding. 

“I will continue to aggressively defend myself, as I am individually named in the suit, and will aggressively defend the town on the remaining claim,” Haas added.

Anthony’s team is still going ahead with the third and fourth causes of action, Van Malden says. 

According to court documents, discovery and depositions — the process of each side gathering information for the case — will take place the first few months of 2024. The next scheduled court date is a compliance conference on March 29, 2024.