A former sergeant with the Madison Police Department is suing the town of Madison, Somerset County and the county sheriff, claiming he was wrongfully fired by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office shortly after it took over the Madison department.

David Trask, who worked for the Madison police for 30 years, also is asking a federal judge to order that the town and county allow him to return to his full-time job as a police officer in Madison and pay him for damages and lost wages.

Two Madison Police Department cruisers stand parked at the police station last March. The department was dissolved and the town contracted with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office in July. Former police Sgt. David Trask is suing for wrongful termination after the sheriff told him in December that his employment “was not going to work out.” Staff file photo by David Leaming

In his lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Trask said he was not given a reason why he was fired and was told by Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster that his employment was “not going to work out” in December.

In court documents, Lancaster, the county and the town of Madison have denied any wrongdoing. Peter Marchesi, an attorney for Somerset County and Lancaster, said the allegations are “absolutely without merit.”

The termination followed a change in policing in Madison in July, when the town dissolved its police department in favor of contracting policing services through the sheriff’s office.

Town officials and the sheriff’s office said at the time that the five police officers who worked for the Madison department would be offered jobs with the sheriff’s office after they were trained.

The plan was touted as a cost-saving measure which would save the town close to $100,000 annually.

Trask was hired in 1985 and promoted to sergeant in 2002, according to the lawsuit. At the time of his termination, he had the most seniority of any full-time Madison town employee, it said.

In 1992, Trask was accused of using his job as a police officer to gain sexual favors after Celeste Brockelbank said an encounter with Trask at a domestic violence scene led to a short-lived relationship, according to Morning Sentinel archives.

Brockelbank complained to the Madison Police Department that Trask had used his position to solicit sex after her husband found out about their relationship.

Trask initially was suspended from his job for two weeks, but he was reinstated with back pay after the Board of Selectmen found the accusations to be without merit. He then sued Brockelbank, whom he accused of conspiring with his then-supervisor Lewis Gordon to get him fired, claiming defamation of character.

In January 1997, a jury sided with Brockelbank. Trask was put on indefinite leave as the town considered whether to reinstate disciplinary proceedings, but he was returned to his job after a judge threw out the jury’s decision to award Brockelbank $18,000 in damages.

After the consolidation with the sheriff’s office on July 1, Trask continued to perform the same job duties, the lawsuit said. After the transition, the sheriff’s office also reviewed his work as a town employee from before July.

On Dec.10, Lancaster met with Trask and told him that his employment was terminated, effective immediately.

According to the lawsuit, Trask was not given written notice and was not given any reason for his termination. Instead, Lancaster told Trask that his employment “was not going to work out” and also mentioned to Trask that he knew Trask had hired an attorney recently. The lawsuit says Trask was represented by a union as a Madison police officer, and Lancaster said Thursday that Somerset County deputies are represented by the same union, the Fraternal Order of Police.

The lawsuit asks that the sheriff’s office and town of Madison reinstate Trask to his full-time position and pay him for damages and lost wages.

Marchesi said he believes Trask was terminated from the sheriff’s office in a way that complied with state and federal law, and with the agreement between the sheriff’s office and town of Madison and that the separation was warranted.

Rachel Ohm can be contacted at 612-2368 or at

rohm@centralmaine.com

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