Osten Faces Searing Federal Lawsuit From Former Sprague Employee. Gentes Alleges Defamation, Harassment, Civil Rights Violations.

Former Sprague employee Robert Gentes has launched a stunning federal civil lawsuit against state Senator Cathy Osten, claiming Osten tried to blame Gentes for her own failures. Osten was defeated for re-election as distressed Sprague’s first selectman. Osten claimed the town’s $835,000 deficit had nothing to do with her. Voters disagreed.

Gentes’s introduction to his 57-page complaint summarizes the basis of his action for damages against Sprague and Osten personally:
Aware that Plaintiff had already begun to speak out regarding her failure which resulted in the need to request a tax increase or make other arrangements to borrow money to pay for the $835,000 deficit, and fearful that he would speak out further and damage her prospects for re-election, Defendant Osten engaged in a calculated campaign to destroy Plaintiff in any way that she could, and through any means that she could. She tried to get Plaintiff fired from his job on two occasions from a municipality which depended upon appropriations from the Senate committee that she chaired; she made false statements in public meetings wrongly accusing Plaintiff of possible criminal activity and charging that Plaintiff was responsible for the Town of Sprague’s fiscal problems; she caused other public officials (such as Superintendent David Erwin and Board of Education Chair Megin Sechen) to agree with her false accusations against Plaintiff in order to give credibility to her lies – – even when they knew she was lying; she selectively caused the Town of Sprague to file a frivolous lawsuit against Plaintiff (and then made sure that the lawsuit was reported to the public, to the media, and to Plaintiff’s employer); she contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report, falsely, that Plaintiff was responsible for the over-spending by the BOE, and publicly reported that she had done so to enhance her political standing; and, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation would not investigate, she used her doomed First Selectman re-election campaign to send written material to every household and registered voter in the Town of Sprague falsely portraying the lawsuit the Town of Sprague brought against Plaintiff as a legitimate effort to hold him accountable and falsely labeling Plaintiff as someone who engaged in “illegal” activity which caused the Town of Sprague’s fiscal problems. In each instance, Defendant Osten abused her position of power and authority for improper and illegal purposes, in order to punish and injure Plaintiff, transform Plaintiff into a pariah and a criminal in the minds of every resident and voter in the Town of Sprague so that nobody would believe anything he said, nor associate with him, in order to intimidate Plaintiff (and others) from speaking out against her in the future, prevent voters from learning the truth regarding her responsibility for the Town’s fiscal problems, and to retain her political power and authority through re-election. Defendant Osten’s actions were intentional, malicious, corrupt, and unconstitutional. This lawsuit is being brought to hold Catherine Osten accountable for her illegal acts.

Gentes alleges that Osten, who is known to have a brusque manner at times, engaged in harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil rights violations, calling Osten’s campaign against Gentes “extreme and outrageous.”

Gentes’s lawyer, Jacque Parenteau, of New London, cites numerous public meetings broadcast on Facebook (and presumably preserved as evidence) that may cause Osten, a retired state corrections officer, considerable distress in reconciling her claims and allegations with her substantive actions in addressing Sprague’s deficit. Osten’s accusatory 2019 re-election campaign mailings to voters may also require some explaining.

The plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damage, punitive damages, costs, interest, attorneys’ fees, and other appropriate relief.