PD dismissed from lawsuit

A lawsuit against Portland Police Department has been thrown out.

Two of its officers remain defendants in the case.

Special Judge Douglas K. Mawhorr dismissed the Portland Police Department from a lawsuit filed by clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips, though claims against the city, Police Chief Dustin Mock and investigator Jeff Hopkins remain active.

The order is dated Sept. 24 and was filed in Jay Circuit Court on Tuesday.

On Sept. 9, Mawhorr granted a motion from Phillips for a joint case management order — it establishes a shared timeline for pretrial proceedings leading to a trial — in the lawsuit and gave the parties involved 30 days to submit their proposals. No additional court dates have been set.

Phillips filed suit against the city, its police department, Mock and Hopkins in July, alleging that she has been the focus of “torment, harassment and defamation” by the police department. Her accusations include that Mock and Hopkins have threatened her; the police chief has made disparaging or defamatory statements against her; and that Mock and Hopkins reviewed and distributed video footage of Phillips exercising in the city’s exercise room that included her private telephone conversations.

In mid-September, Attorney Katlyn M. Christman filed a motion to dismiss the suit against the police department, Mock and Hopkins. In it, she argued that they cannot be sued.

“The claims asserted against Dustin Mock, Jeff Hopkins and the Portland Police Department should be dismissed because the Portland Police Department is not a suable entity and Mock and Hopkins cannot be sued in their individual capacities,” the motion says.

In her motion, Christman of Clark Johnson & Knight, Merrillville, referenced Indiana Code saying a county, municipality or township may be sued. She argued that because the police department is only a division of the city, it is not a suable entity.

She also argued that Mock and Hopkins can’t be sued as individuals based on the allegations in Phillips’ complaint. She cited Indiana Code again, saying “a plaintiff is barred from suing employees who were acting within the scope of their employment at the time the alleged loss was sustained.”

In response to the motion, Clayton Lengerich of Miller Burry & Brown, Decatur, consented to the police department being removed from the suit. He argued that claims against the city, Mock and Hopkins should move forward.

“The Complaint alleges specific conduct that, if proven, falls outside the scope of employment and/or was committed with malice, willfulness, wantonness, or recklessness, thereby invoking the statutory exceptions to immunity under Indiana law,” he wrote in reference to the claims against Mock and Hopkins.

While Mawhorr dismissed the claim against the police department, “the claims asserted against the City of Portland, Indiana, Dustin Mock and Jeff Hopkins remain pending at this point,” he wrote.

Phillips’ suit stems from a tort claim she filed in April. It is one of seven claims filed against the city in the last two years and the only one that has advanced to court thus far.

The only remaining active tort claim that names the police department directly was filed by former police officer Patrick Long. That claim, which alleges coercion and threats, disregarding department police and interfering with a job application, also names the city, Mock and Hopkins.

Last month, Mock and Hopkins issued a tort claim against the city, Phillips and her office, and council members Ron May, Mike Aker and Dave Golden. It alleges a wide range of issues including false allegations by Phillips, ethical violations by Wes Schemenaur in his role as city attorney and ongoing bias from council members.

Former wastewater department employee Brad Clayton has two claims against the city. In one, which also names Phillips, he alleges that his private Family Medical Leave Act information was illegally made public. In the other, he says he was berated by wastewater department superintendent Brad Dues and that city officials, including the mayor, spread disinformation about him.

Former police officer Kyle Denney filed a claim against the city, Mayor Jeff Westlake, Jay County Probation Office and probation office employee Ashley Reynolds alleging statements made against him including allegations of misconduct.

Two other tort claims filed in 2024 have been resolved.