Long files suit against city

A second tort claim against the city has now been filed as a lawsuit.

And a supplemental tort claim has been issued to the city, its clerk-treasurer and three council members.

Former Portland Police Officer Patrick Long filed a lawsuit Wednesday  in Jay Superior Court against the City of Portland, its police department, Police Chief Dustin Mock and investigator Jeff Hopkins.

Also this week, Mock and Hopkins issued a supplemental tort claim to the city, clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips and her office, and council members Mike Aker, Ron May and Dave Golden following their original claim in September.

The lawsuit and supplemental claim are the latest activity in a series of ongoing disputes between city employees and elected officials. There are currently six active tort claims against the city — all but one of them also name at least one elected official or employee — and two others filed in 2024 have since been resolved.

Second suit filed

In court documents filed Wednesday, Long seeks judgments on counts of constructive termination (an employer purposefully makes working conditions so intolerable that an employee has no option but to resign), intentional infliction of emotional distress, tortious interference (interfering with a business relationship), defamation and a wage claim (failure to pay wages).

As he had previously laid out in a tort claim filed in January and supplemental documentation that followed, Long alleges that he was:

•Coerced regarding an Indiana State Police investigation and threatened with retaliation

•Encouraged to misrepresent facts about his return to work following a knee surgery.

•Sent harassing notes via text and his work mailbox.

•Scheduled to work the night shift despite having seniority.

•Subjected to unfounded accusations and defamatory comments.

•The victim of a campaign to sabotage his job application with Winchester Police Department.

•Repeatedly threatened with and subjected to unwarranted disciplinary action.

Long also says Portland Mayor Jeff Westlake acknowledged on multiple occasions that other officers were trying to drive him away from the department and that there is a culture of “going after other officers” within the department.

In his suit, he asks for damages to be determined in a jury trial, but does not request a specific amount.

Early this year, the city’s board of works voted to file a lawsuit against Long to seek reimbursement of $14,977 for his training at Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

Additional accusations

In their supplemental tort claim dated Nov. 4, Mock and Hopkins allege that comments made during the Sept. 15 Portland City Council meeting are evidence of a “calculated assault on due process and constitutional protections.”

The claim alleges public retaliation by council members, detailing comments made by Aker, May, Phillips and council member Ashley Hilfiker at that meeting and additional comments from May during Monday’s council meeting. It also accuses an “institutional failure to intervene,” saying other council members failed to object or halt misconduct during Monday’s meeting.

It also includes comments Phillips made in an email and accuses her of demanding that a former officer’s email account be improperly deleted, leading to a confrontation with Mock. Additional allegations involve harassment from Phillips’ husband, Rick.

Mock and Hopkins also allege that council members violated the city’s employee handbook and city code.

They say the result has been ongoing emotional distress and harm to their reputations, indicating that accusations made against them undermine the public trust in law enforcement, create safety risks, damage relationships with other law enforcement agencies and impair future employment opportunities.

The claim mentions The Commercial Review, saying it “continued publishing damaging front-page stories using official statements and coordinated leaks.” It also alleges selective leaks to the newspaper and others that “served no legitimate public interest and were timed to maximize reputational harm.”

Other suits, claims

Among the other tort claims filed since summer 2024 is one by Phillips that has also resulted in a lawsuit, with a jury trial currently scheduled for Nov. 9 and 10, 2026. (It was originally set for Nov. 2 and 3, 2026, but was later rescheduled.)

The jury trial is the final step in an agreed case management order issued by Special Judge Douglas K. Mawhorr. The order also calls for the parties to go through mediation with former Lake County judge Richard McDevitt, who now operates McDevitt Mediation Center, on or before July 15, 2026. A final pretrial hearing/conference is set for Oct. 19, 2026.

In her suit, Phillips alleges that she has been the target of “torment, harassment and defamation” by the city’s police department. She says Mock and Hopkins have threatened her; the police chief has made disparaging or defamatory statements against her; and Mock and Hopkins reviewed and distributed video footage of her exercising in the city’s exercise room that included her private telephone conversations.

The city, the police department, Mock and Hopkins were originally named in the suit, though Mawhorr has since dismissed the police department. A hearing on a motion to dismiss Mock and Hopkins from the suit is scheduled for Jan. 6.

The other active tort claims include two by former Portland wastewater department employee Brad Clayton. He alleges that his private Family and Medical Leave Act information was illegally made public, that he was berated by wastewater department superintendent Brad Dues and that city officials, including Westlake, spread disinformation about him.

Former Portland police officer Kyle Denney filed the other claim against the city, Jay County Probation Office, Westlake and probation office employee Ashley Reynolds. He alleges that statements were made against him, including allegations of misconduct