Accused of Pulling Fire Alarm & Arrested, Librarian Can Sue Law Firm, Federal Judge Rules
A fire alarm activated a year ago on the third floor of Parker McCay’s offices has left the New Jersey law firm still dealing with a super-heated situation.
The day after the June 2, 2009 incident, law librarian Sheila Ciemniecki was called into a Parker McCay conference room, where she was fired by the firm’s finance director and arrested and handcuffed by police for allegedly activating a false alarm, reports the New Jersey Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
At the time, still security photos showed Ciemnieki in the vicinity of the alarm, according to the article. But the librarian insisted she was on another floor and “continuous feed” footage was subsequently determined to show that a man, in fact, had set off the fire alarm. By this time, an article about Ciemniecki’s arrest had appeared in the local newspaper.
In a federal lawsuit, Ciemnieki alleges that the firm’s finance director accused her of the alarm crime in retaliation for her complaints about a paltry pay raise and her work schedule, the legal publication recounts. He either intentionally lied about her involvement to police or intentionally withheld the second set of surveillance photos, she contends.
Rejecting a defense motion to dismiss based on an absolute privilege theory, among other defenses, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler held that a qualified privilege applied concerning the information Parker McCay provided to authorities and that Ciemnieki had pleaded sufficient information concerning the firm’s alleged bias against her to establish a triable case, the article reports.
Her suit asserts claims for defamation, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
William Tambussi of Brown & Connery represents Parker McCay. He says the firm alerted Evesham Township police on July 16, 2009 of the second set of surveillance photos and blames authorities there for acting precipitously to arrest her. The township and police have cross-claimed against the law firm for indemnification concerning Ciemniecki’s suit.
