A civil lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci of committing sexual assault against an aide last year.
Arthur Aidala of the Manhattan law firm Aidala, Bertuna and Kamins said that Lupinacci assaulted aide Brian Finnegan in December when the two went to Albany to clean out Lupinacci’s office. Lupinacci had been serving as state assemblyman but resigned after he was elected as town supervisor to a term that began in January. Finnegan was his chief of staff at the Assembly and co-chairman of his campaign committee.
But Brian Griffin, Lupinacci’s personal attorney, released a statement that read in part, “These allegations are unequivocally false and completely without merit. To be clear, these claims and the orchestrated press conference that accompanied them are an attempt at an unjust and unwarranted financial payday.”
Aidala said Finnegan, a Northport native, did not file a police report but instead quickly informed his family. Court papers revealed explicit details of what Finnegan says transpired in the middle of night when he said he awoke to find Lupinacci kneeling at the side of his bed.
Finnegan described fleeing the room after the assault and trying to avoid Lupinacci’s attempts to contact him. The lawsuit also claims Lupinacci tried to improperly access Finnegan’s cellphone in an attempt to locate him. He said he called out sick for work for four days and then resigned instead of going on to continue working for Lupinacci.
“At the drop of a hat, all of my hard work was meaningless. All because I was the target of a sexual predator,” Finnegan said.
Finnegan said the assault occurred after three years of invasive questions from Lupinacci about his personal life. “This was a repeated pattern of abuse that ended in sexual assault,” he said.
The press conference was held in the parking lot of the Third District Court shortly after the papers were filed. At the same time, Lupinacci was presiding over a Town Board meeting. As the meeting ended, he left the room and avoided answering questions.
Democratic Huntington Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson reacts to the accusations leveled against Republican Town Supervisor Lupinacci: pic.twitter.com/Uc3veUJXpJ
— Rich Barrabi (@RichBarrabi) December 4, 2018
Caption: Brian Finnegan, right, with attorneys Imran Ansari, left and Arthur Aidala, center.
Statement from Brian Griffin for Lupinacci
Court papers
Finnegan Summons and Complaint 12 04 2018 (2)