Former Cortlandt Foreman Accused of Illegal Dumping Scheme Files Suit to Get Job Back
A former longtime Town of Cortlandt employee under investigation for an alleged scheme involving illegal dumping on town property has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to try to get his job back.
Robert Dyckman, who was employed for 28 years with the town before resigning effective October 22, 2019 — about two months after town officials discovered suspicious activity had allegedly taken place on land behind the town’s salt dome at the end of Arlo Lane, filed a lawsuit against the town on April 30.
In the legal action, Dyckman, who submitted a letter of resignation on January 12, 2021 that was accepted by the Town Board, seeks to be restored to his former position as Assistant General Foreman in the Department of Environmental Services Highway Division, a job he held since July 2012.
Dyckman claimed in the lawsuit town officials acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in failing to act on his January 30 letter to Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi, in which he stated he was “not will full faculties at the time I made this resignation and was pressured to resign without sufficient time to fully consider the ramifications.”
In addition, Dyckman alleges the lawsuit Town Attorney Thomas Wood made statements in articles published in Examiner Media that “convicted” him of “unproven charges, and exacerbated (Dyckman’s) anxiety, depression and erratic behavior in response to this ongoing municipal persecution.”
According to Wood, eyebrows were first raised when another employee was sifting through material that had been unloaded on the town’s property in August 2019 that appeared to be more than was anticipated. Surveillance video then allegedly showed trucks from Griffin’s Landscaping Corporation in Peekskill, and other unmarked vehicles, entering the property and dumping material.
The video footage, according to Wood, also allegedly showed Dyckman being present when Griffin trucks were there. Wood maintained Dyckman would sometimes leave the gate to the site unlocked or arrive on weekends with his own vehicle to oversee the activity.
“There are text messages to Griffin from his phone, one saying don’t come now people are here,” Wood said last week.
Wood said town officials later uncovered improperly billed invoices totaling more than $100,000 for repairs to approximately 100 catch basins throughout town that were allegedly submitted by Griffin’s and signed off by Dyckman. Most of the repairs were not done, according to Wood.
Town officials contacted the District Attorney’s Office, which then brought in the FBI. Dyckman was then suspended without pay. The Employee’s Union, AFSCME Council 66 Local 2343, filed a grievance with the town requesting Dyckman be reinstated with back pay. In his resignation letter, Dyckman waived and renounced any claim to retiree health care benefits that he may have been eligible to receive.
Wood said earlier this month 14 investigators were at the Arlo Lane site taking samples and gathering scientific evidence of the material that was dumped. “It’s a very active investigation,” he said.
The town has filed a lawsuit against Griffin’s seeking money to clean up the site. Wood said the town will also be seeking sanctions against Dyckman and his attorney Daniel Pagano for what he called “one of the most frivolous lawsuits I have ever seen.”
Pagano, for his part, said “Tom Wood calling this lawsuit frivolous should not be taken seriously, the last time he [called] my action frivolous, the town lost twice and had to settle.”
“The town attorney is also misleading the public as they have never filed any lawsuit in this matter,” Pagano also stated. “This is the second time he has misrepresented the facts in this publication to the public.”
The online version of this article has been updated to include Pagano’s quote.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
