McGREGOR & LEGERE WINS MILLION DOLLAR LAND USE CIVIL RIGHTS CASE FOR MONEY DAMAGES AND FEES

Our recently concluded, very successful court case is captioned Thyng v. Thomas P. Kelly, individually, et al, in Norfolk Superior Court. We represent Scotty Thyng, a long-time local landowner in the City of Quincy, suing for violations of federal and state civil rights statutes for blocking his attempts to build a single-family residence for over 10 years for illegal and what are called “pretextual” reasons.

Previously, in a related Norfolk Superior Court case, we had won a Judgment that the Quincy Conservation Commission had refused to hold a hearing for Mr. Thyng on his house project under the Quincy Wetland Ordinance out of no reason other than animosity. The Court ordered the Commission to issue the permit. The more recent case sought money damages for civil rights violations arising from those prior proceedings.

The civil rights trial judge was Douglas H. Wilkins. It was a two-week jury trial, resulting in jury verdicts on December 16, 2015. The verdicts are against five current or former City officials. Several other current or former City officials were not found liable by the jury. The City itself, as the City, was let out of the case on the basis of qualified immunity. After the verdict, there were written decisions on our Motion for Attorneys’ Fees by Judge Wilkins and by Judge Peter Krupp.

Judgment was entered on July 24, 2017 against the individual defendants. The total Judgment, with interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs was for $1,295,205.90 as of July 24, 2017, with interest accruing at the rate of $431.73 per day. Defendants filed a Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV), seeking to throw out the Judgment, which Judge Wilkins denied on September 25, 2017.

We await if the defendants or some of them file an appeal to the Appeals Court.

For more information concerning this matter, please contact:
Gregor I. McGregor, Esq.
McGregor & Legere, P.C.
15 Court Square – Suite 500
Boston, MA 02108
617-338-6464, ext. 123
Fax: 617-338-0737
gimcg@mcgregorlaw.com
www.mcgregorlaw.com