By: Megan L. Nielsen

In a ruling dated August 20, 2024, federal district court Judge Vernon Oliver, issued a ruling exonerating Brookfield Officer Kelsey Sullivan and retired Brookfield Police Department Chief James Purcell, as well as the Town of Brookfield and Brookfield Board of Education for claims that they failed to investigate a complaint that photographs of nude and semi-nude underage women were shared on social media. The lawsuit was filed May 30, 2023.

The Defendants, represented by Attorney Michael Rose and Attorney Megan Nielsen of Rose Kallor LLP of Hartford, filed a Motion to Dismiss all claims on August 14, 2023. 

In dismissing the action, Judge Oliver wrote that “Plaintiffs have alleged no facts—specific or otherwise—which support an inference of deliberate indifference to the rights of citizens through a failure to train or a failure to supervise.” He further held that “Plaintiffs also do not proffer any facts to establish that the Town and/or Board were the direct or proximate cause of the alleged violations of Plaintiffs' constitutional rights. In addition, they do not contend that an official with final policy-making authority took action that caused the deprivation and do not permit an inference of deliberate indifference.” In essence, the Plaintiffs' complaint cannot support any allegations that that the Town, the Board of Education, Officer Sullivan and Chief Purcell engaged in any conduct that resulted in a violation of their constitutional rights.

“We are happy that the court has exonerated our hard-working police officers. All members of the public should know that we take all complaints like this seriously and will investigate them to the fullest extent,” said First Selectman Stephen Dunn. “In this case, a sister agency assumed the lead on the investigation of the initial complaint shortly after it was made to the Brookfield Police Department in May 2021.”

Any additional questions or comments concerning this lawsuit and the court's decision should be directed to Attorney Michael Rose.

If you have any questions about this legal update, constitutional and civil rights violations, or are in need of labor and employment advice, please contact Michael Rose or Megan Nielsen at (860) 361-7999 or any other attorney at Rose Kallor, LLP with whom you regularly work. Rose Kallor, LLP provides a full range of labor and employment advice, counseling, and litigation defense to private and public-sector employers.

About Rose Kallor:

Rose Kallor, LLP is a labor and employment law firm with offices in Hartford, Connecticut and New York, New York. Rose Kallor concentrates its practice in the representation of public and private-sector employers, individuals, and municipalities in the New England and New York Metropolitan area. Committed to high-quality, professional representation, the attorneys at Rose Kallor stand ready to provide legal counsel on all aspects of employment and labor law. For more about Rose Kallor, visit our website at https://www.rosekallor.com/.