RAYMOND – A lawsuit filed last month by former Raymond Selectman Dana Desjardins against Selectman Mike Reynolds and Town Manager Don Willard, was handed over to the federal court last week.

The suit was prompted by statements Desjardins says Willard and Reynolds made via email that Desjardins attended public meetings intoxicated and had driven his vehicle while drunk.

Desjardins, who is a member of the Raymond Budget-Finance Committee and was a member of the Board of Selectmen for nine years, is accusing the defendants of defamation of character, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, among other claims.

Desjardins filed the 19-page complaint Aug. 14 in Cumberland County Superior Court in connection with what Desjardins has claimed are false defamatory statements following nearly a year and a half of “harassment” by Willard and Reynolds.

The suit follows an incident on Jan. 8, when a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy pulled Desjardins over in his vehicle on a road near his home while he was on his way to a selectmen’s meeting at Jordan-Small Middle School. Desjardins said the deputy pulled him over after reports were made by Willard and Reynolds that deputies should be on the lookout for Desjardins since he could be intoxicated.

Based on a long-running feud with Willard and Reynolds that began in the early 2000s when Desjardins served as a selectman, Desjardins says the defendants developed a dislike for him, and the allegations of his public drunkenness was just a way to humiliate him.

According to the civil docket for the case, Daniel Murphy, an attorney from the Portland law firm Bernstein Shur, the same firm that represents the town of Raymond, is also representing Willard and Reynolds in the lawsuit.

Contacted earlier this week by the Lakes Region Weekly, neither of the defendants nor board Chairman Sam Gifford said they could comment on aspects of the pending legal matter.

“We are counseled to not discuss it,” said Gifford.

Though Desjardins believes the town is paying for Willard’s and Reynolds’ legal representation, Gifford insisted they are not.

“The whole issue is not a town issue and I can say for certain that the town is not paying,” Gifford said.

According to John Campbell, who is Desjardins’ attorney, the lawsuit has been removed from Cumberland County Superior Court by Murphy on behalf of Willard and Reynolds and now rests in the hands of the federal court. The notice of removal was filed Sept. 3.

Willard’s and Reynolds’ deadline to answer the claims made by Desjardins is set for Friday, Sept. 13, and will address the allegations, Murphy said.

Campbell said the defendants have the right to move the case to the federal level because the complaint includes claims under the federal civil rights statute.

“If any part of the case is based on federal law, they have the option to remove it [from the state court],” Campbell said of the court transfer, which cost the defendants $400.

The civil rights law states, “Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any state or territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.”

“We asserted, defamation, among other claims … under section 1983, Title 42 of United States Code,” said Campbell. “All civil rights cases are brought [to federal court] pursuant to that statute.”

According to Campbell, the statements made via email by the defendants against Desjardins amount to libel and slander and entitle Desjardins to recover punitive damages. He would not reveal what the plaintiffs are seeking in damages.