Former parks manager looks to expand lawsuit

Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos is accused of conspiring to fire the town’s former manager of parks and recreation in a growing lawsuit against the town.

George Daniel Wood, better known as Dan Wood, wants to add Santos to his 2013 lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully terminated by the town. Wood was claiming $3.25 million in damages from the town, former CAO Dan DiGiovanni and now deceased councillor Ron Colasanti. Wood is now seeking an additional $1.6 million in damages from Santos and another $1 million from DiGiovanni.

Wood’s application to add the additional damages to his lawsuit was heard in Superior Court this week. Tom Serafimovski, one of the lawyers representing the town, argued Wood’s application has exceeded the two-year deadline for such amendments. Justice Christopher Bondy reserved his decision.

Wood was “reorganized” out of his job in 2013 after working for the town for 18 years. Wood claims the reorganization was an excuse to get rid of him.

In his lawsuit, Wood says his troubles with his employment began in the spring of 2012 as he was assigning boat slips at the municipal Cedar Island marina for the

upcoming season. Marina patron Tom Melton, who runs a welding and marine supply shop and had operated the fuel pumps at the marina, had purchased a bigger boat and needed a wider slip. Wood accommodated him by moving the tenant out of a larger slip beside Melton’s.

The displaced boater, who had occupied the same slip for 14 years, complained to town council. Council voted to let the man keep his slip.

Wood says that with the marina opening only days away, he decided to accommodate both Melton and the other patron in their existing slips by having the dock between them moved six inches.

Wood says the town accused him of insubordination and gave him a formal letter of reprimand.

Court heard the town paid Wood for 17 months after terminating his employment. Serafimovski said Wood was “terminated without cause.”

Fabio Costante, the lawyer representing Wood in court Monday, said Wood asked to go before a meeting of the town’s personnel committee to save his job. DiGiovanni, in pretrial testimony, said he passed on that request to Santos. Neither Santos nor DiGiovanni allowed Wood to get onto

the committee’s meeting agenda.

Contacted by the Star this week, Santos declined to comment while the case is before the courts.

Wood claims, long before the management reorganization, Colasanti told town employee Maggie Durocher he would have Wood’s “head on a platter” over the dock issue and that the town was planning to fire him, but it needed to take time and “do it right.”

No trial date has been set, nor had the judge said when intends to rule on Wood’s application to expand his lawsuit.

Wood claims Colasanti told town employee Maggie Durocher he would have Wood’s ‘head on a platter’ over the dock issue.