A lawsuit alleging sexual assault filed more than a year ago against Town Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci is scheduled to be heard starting Thursday.
The Northport Observer and the Huntingtonian have both written stories or commentary on the lawsuit, which was filed by former Lupinacci aide Brian T. Finnegan in December, 2018.
At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Finnegan said that Lupinacci, while wrapping up his term as a member of the State Assembly, had assaulted him in his hotel room in 2017 while the two were in Albany to clean out Lupinacci’s office. Lupinacci had been elected town supervisor in November 2017 took office in January 2018. The allegations involve at least two separate occasions.
Finnegan was his chief of staff at the Assembly and co-chairman of his campaign committee.
Court papers revealed explicit details of what Finnegan said had transpired in the middle of night Dec. 4, 2017, when he said he awoke to find Lupinacci kneeling at the side of his bed. Finnegan accused Lupinacci of assaulting him several times as he slept on a futon. he lawsuit said Finnegan had to fend off Lupinacci multiple times and separate occasions, forcing him to flee the hotel and ultimately quit his job. It also claims Lupinacci tried to improperly access Finnegan’s cellphone in an attempt to locate him after he fled the hotel.
In the lawsuit and at the press conference, Finnegan said he was subject to harassment, abusive behavior and forced to work in a hostile work environment, and said harassment and assault continued on a second trip to Albany.
Finnegan said he suffered significant embarrassment, stress, pain, and mental anguish, and corresponding economic loss.
Finnegan most recently has been working in public relations.
Lupinacci’s personal lawyer, Brian Griffin, said at the time the lawsuit was announced, “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.”
The State Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether it was investigating the allegations.
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