Judge Rules in Lawsuit

Waterford (Conn.) dispatcher Laurie Lewis filed a federal lawsuit against the town, its fire administrator and a selectman, saying she was promoted and worked as a supervisor for two years, but was never paid the additional salary she was promised. Now a judge has ruled that she wasn’t entitled to the pay, through a strange circumstances: the supervisor’s position had been eliminated by the town, but the fire commissioners promoted her into the position anyway. She believed she had been promoted, but the judge ruled against Lewis in the lawsuit. She had claimed violations of her property rights and right to due process, as established in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; that the town failed to fairly compensate her under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and caused her severe emotional distress.