Motion filed in lawsuit against police

A motion to dismiss is pending in one lawsuit against Portland police.

Another was filed this week.

Portland Police Department, Police Chief Dustin Mock and investigator Jeff Hopkins filed a motion to dismiss Monday in a lawsuit brought by former Portland police officer Patrick Long.

Douglas Mawhorr of Delaware Circuit Court 3 is serving as special judge for the case. He gave the plaintiff and other defendants 30 days to file a response to the motion to dismiss.

Also Monday, a hearing on a motion to dismiss from Mock and Hopkins in a lawsuit filed by Portland clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips was rescheduled.

The City of Portland is a defendant in both suits but was not a party to either motion.

Monday’s motion from attorney Katlyn M. Christman of Clark, Johnson & Knight asks that the lawsuit be dismissed on several grounds, saying it fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, it is not legally sufficient and the facts are incapable of supporting relief.

Christman is making the same arguments for dismissal in the Long suit as she has in the Phillips lawsuit.

Long is seeking judgment from the court on  several counts. 

They include 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). He alleges that he was coerced regarding an Indiana State Police investigation, harassed and threatened. He also alleges that there was a campaign to sabotage his job application with Winchester Police Department.

In court documents, Christman says Portland Police Department is not a suable entity under Indiana law, referencing Indiana Code saying a county, municipality or township may be sued. She argues that because the police department is only a division of the city, it is not a suable entity.

She also argues that Mock and Hopkins cannot be sued as individuals based on the allegations in Phillips’ complaint. Again she cites Indiana Code, 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 the Phillips suit, the motion to dismiss the police department was granted. The motions to dismiss Mock and Hopkins from the case are still pending.

Also Monday, Mawhorr moved the hearing on the motion to dismiss Mock and Hopkins from Phillips’ lawsuit to 2:30 p.m. April 25 in Delaware Circuit Court 3. It had been scheduled for Tuesday.

The suits stem from two of the eight tort claims that were filed against the city in 2024 and 2025. Four others remain active while two have been resolved. 

The other active claims are as follows: 

•Two from former Portland wastewater department employee Brad Clayton alleging that his Family Medical Leave Act information was illegally made public, he was berated by wastewater department superintendent Brad Dues and that city representatives, including Mayor Jeff Westlake, spread false information about him and his job

•One from former Portland police officer Kyle Denney alleging that Westlake made statements that included allegations of misconduct against him

•One from Mock and Hopkins — it also names Phillips and her office, and council members Mike Aker, Ron May and Dave Golden — alleging retaliation by council members, an institutional failure to intervene, improperly deleting email accounts, violating the city handbook, harassment and other issues.