08/30/2006

Former clerk files suit against supervisor, wife and the township

She says Foster prevented her from doing her job

bY Christine Finger

cfinger@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — A lawsuit filed by Bingham Township's former clerk details an alleged pattern of retaliation and harassment led by township Supervisor Robert Foster.

Dorothy Petroskey filed suit Monday in Leelanau County Circuit Court against Foster, his wife Patricia, and Bingham Township.

Petroskey was elected in 2004 and resigned Aug. 19. Foster's actions prevented her from effectively performing her duties as clerk, she said.

The two-count complaint alleges violations of the state Whistleblowers' Protection Act, as well as assault and battery committed against Petroskey by Foster's wife. It recounts a string of problems that began in late May after Petroskey reported the supervisor's unauthorized beach grooming at the township's Hendryx Park.

Petroskey's attorney, Blake Ringsmuth, said she wasn't eager to sue and the lawsuit follows numerous attempts to resolve the conflict.

"This has been emotionally and financially devastating to her," he said.

Foster and his wife declined comment.

Foster filed a complaint July 3 with the Leelanau County Sheriff's Department that accused Petroskey of mail tampering after she opened a letter to the township from the Army Corps of Engineers and distributed copies to township officials. The letter stated that Foster's beach grooming violated environmental regulations.

Undersheriff Scott Wooters said the sheriff's department investigated Foster's mail fraud complaint and closed the case after prosecutor Joseph Hubbell determined Petroskey committed no criminal act.

Foster stated at a July township board meeting that he also filed a mail fraud complaint against Petroskey with the U.S. Postal Service.

But the U.S. Postal Inspection Service — the agency that would receive and investigate such a grievance — as of Tuesday had no record of a complaint filed by Foster, according to Lucy Sakocius, an official from the Grand Rapids inspection office.

The suit also accuses Foster of subsequently breaking into Petroskey's desk at the township hall and alleges Patricia Foster assaulted Petroskey after a July 6 township board meeting.

Wooters said Petroskey reported the alleged assault to the sheriff's department on July 7, but did not wish to seek criminal prosecution. The investigation, now closed, included witness statements from several township officials.