An Orange County judge has ruled that the county must defend four legislators sued by a Tuckahoe company for allegedly depicting its business as shady.
Acting Justice Timothy McElduff Jr. on Sept. 17 rejected the county’s position that it did not have to defend the public officials because their actions were not conducted within the scope of their duties.
The dispute concerns StarCIO, a Tuckahoe company that was awarded a contract for information technology services that initially cost $65,000 and ballooned to more than $800,000 in 2023.
StarCIO founder Isaac Sacolick is the brother-in-law of Orange County human resources commissioner Langdon Chapman.
Last Fall, county lawmakers Michael Anagnostakis, Michael Paduch, Genesis Ramos and Laurie Tautel questioned the contract.
On Oct. 25 they criticized the deal at a press conference with State Senator James Skoufis. Then last December Skoufis, chair of the senate’s committee on investigations and government operations, issued a scathing report titled, “StarCIO & Orange County Government Corruption.”
“Through a complex scheme of inadequate contracting, falsified ‘quotes,’ and misleading or perhaps pressuring his colleagues,” Skoufis concluded, “Chapman was successful in steering $822,900 in taxpayer funds to his brother-in-law for a low-show, no-bid job in 2023.”
On Jan. 17, Sacolick and StarCIO put Orange County on notice of their intent to sue the lawmakers for defamation. The notice cites the Oct. 25 press conference where the lawmakers and the senator “falsely stated … that Mr. Sacolick broke the law, that he did so because he was in dire financial straits with a home foreclosure, that StarCIO is a shady business with lapsed insurance, and that Mr. Sacolick’s brother-in-law awarded StarCIO the contract.”
On Feb. 1., the lawmakers asked the county to defend them. The county attorney denied their request, arguing that they had waited too long to ask for help and their actions were not within the scope of their employment.
Judge McElduff found that StarCIO and Sacolick did not directly serve the lawmakers with the notice of intent to sue, therefore the statute of limitations never commenced and the request for a county defense was timely.
As to the scope of their public employment, he noted, the county charter and legislative manual provide that investigations are part of their jobs and they have a duty to present information to keep the public informed.
Finally, he found, the county has a duty to indemnify public officials for acts or omissions occurring during the scope of employment.
McElduff ordered the county to defend the lawmakers.
The attorney for StarCIO and Sacolick did not reply to an email asking for their response to the decision.
