Former Brookfield GOP Chair, Vice Chair Seek Reimbursement of Legal Fees

Brookfield, CT — Two Brookfield GOP officials are asking the town to cover their legal expenses in relation to the lawsuit filed by resident Jane Miller who was kicked out of the Republican Party in 2015, according to The News Times.

Former GOP Chairman Matt Grimes and former Vice Chairman George Walker's attorney Nathaniel Gentile said his clients’ legal expenses should be covered by the town’s liability insurance, the paper reported.

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The expenses stem from the federal civil rights case filed last February on behalf of Mrs. Jane Miller against the Republican Registrar of Voters and the Republican Town Chair of Brookfield for “conspiring to, and taking actions that deprived her of her Constitutional rights to vote and freely associate,” her lawyer said. She is represented by Attorney Susan Bysiewicz, former Secretary of the State of Connecticut and partner at the firm of Pastore & Dailey LLC.

After not receiving the Republican nomination for Board of Education, when she was the incumbent, Miller switched her voter registration back to unaffiliated to run for a vacant slot for the Board of Finance. Bysiewicz said that Republican Registrar, Thomas Dunkerton, and Republican Town Chairman, Matthew Grimes, teamed up to summons Miller to a hearing because they believe she did not “toe the line.”

Attorney Bysiewicz said that they feel Miller was discriminated against for being a woman.

“We think that in addition to having her civil rights violated, they did so on the basis of her gender. We’re hoping that they will declare that Mr. Dunkerton has to put her back on the Republican role so that she can participate in the elections,” Attorney Bysiewicz told Patch.

Former Republican voter registrar Thomas Dunkerton is also seeking paymentof his legal fees from the Town of Brookfield but has yet to hear back on the matter, according to the report. First Selectman Steve Dunn told The News Times that he opposes the town paying for Walker’s and Grimes’ expenses and that it will be up to the insurance company to decide.

Bysiewicz declined to comment.

Read the full News Times story here.