A lawsuit by part-time Woodstock police officer Phil Sinagra has derailed a planned disciplinary hearing intended to seek closure on a case that has dragged on for some 18 months. On March 27, Sinagra filed an Article 78 lawsuit against Woodstock, the town board and supervisor Bill McKenna, contending that the disciplinary proceedings against him had violated his rights by extending far beyond the 60 days required by town law.
The town had been set to hold a disciplinary hearing at the beginning of April.
Sergeant Adam McGrath, one of the complainants in a federal lawsuit, said he, along with other department personnel, was prepared to attend the hearing, only to be told at the last minute to stand down.
The town recently settled the federal lawsuit with the four remaining complainants for $70,000.
Complaints made by four officers and a former dispatcher alleged that Sinagra made sexually and racially derogatory comments and fostered a hostile work environment, which was furthered by retaliation for lodging the complaints. One officer has since dropped her complaint.
Sinagra’s lawsuit was a disappointing turn of events for the town board, whose members had sat through four hours of preparatory executive session over two days.
“The town is going to answer the Article 78, so there’s not much more to say,” town supervisor Bill McKenna said April 4. “We did review with our attorney the other day a timeline. It could be anywhere from a month to four or five months before we have an answer back.”
The lawsuit, for the time being, has put a stop to the hearing that Sinagra himself demanded after what he claimed was the town’s inaction and failure to afford him due process to address the allegations.
“It’s very frustrating. Very frustrating,” McKenna said. “The town board has decided we’re going to go fight the Article 78 that was presented to us with the idea that we would then get to a hearing and present evidence regarding the different issues.”
McKenna said the ultimate goal was to have a hearing, have the evidence presented and get a determination from a hearing officer, and then to move forward with appropriate action.
The town board has “a great desire” to make changes to the department and to policy to ensure better transparency to avoid issues like this in the future, McKenna said. The morale in the department was “just terrible,” he conceded.
Sinagra alleges the town wants him gone.
In his lawsuit, he claims McKenna told him on February 7 that “no matter what decision the hearing officer makes, the town board is going to fire you, and you will never be a police officer again.”
On at least a few occasions, councilmember Bennet Ratcliff has called for Sinagra to be fired.
Sinagra has been on paid administrative leave since May 16, 2023. He officially returned to work November 22, 2024, some 555 days after he was placed on administrative leave. Initially, he was told to clean up trash and enforce the Comeau Preserve leash law, but soon after that was relegated to reporting to work only on Fridays, to sit at a desk with no assigned duties.
“I can’t speak to you,” Sinagra said politely as he rose up from his chair to greet a reporter during a brief late-morning encounter on April 4.
“You can speak to my attorney but he said I shouldn’t speak to anyone.”
Sinagra’s attorney, Matthew Jankowski, did not return a request for comment in time for publication.
Sinagra was in full Woodstock Police Department uniform minus his service weapon and badge. He was in otherwise good spirits as he sat alone in a former office on the second floor of 45 Comeau Drive. The top floor is mostly empty except for storage and occasional meeting space after a recent remodeling moved departments to a new wing on the ground floor.
“It was good seeing you,” he said.
“As of this date, I have been prohibited from performing my regular duties as a police officer and have been forced to spend entire shifts alone in a room on the second floor of the town offices,” Sinagra said in his affidavit. “I have repeatedly offered to help with any work that is needed, but my offers have been declined.”
While mum on a recent day, Sinagra said in February 2024 that he wanted his job back and was largely left in the dark about his charges.
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