Kaminski accuses Anderson of 'malicious' actions
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

In a court case against the Town of Amherst and Highway Superintendent Bob Anderson, Kathy Kaminski claims her duties as a crew chief have been diminished.

Kaminski said the situation started when she announced her candidacy for highway superintendent. She ran unsuccessfully against Anderson in the November 2007 election.

According to Kaminski, she was treated differently, most notably being reassigned from the forestry department, where she had been for 10 years, to supervising waste metal pickup throughout the town. She claims she was also told to stay on the highway grounds, unable to supervise her crew.

The case makes many harsh accusations against Anderson and the town, such as "At least one employee of the Highway Department was advised by defendants to shun plaintiff and not engage in any conversation with her."

Kaminski also claimed that she was assigned to stay in a truck all day and as a result suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

At the time of her complaint, in January, the truck was tested and did not register for carbon monoxide.

She accuses Anderson's actions of being, "malicious, illegal and oppressive and were performed without regard to the reasonable actions of responsible public officials in a multi-party society."

The complaint is seeking damages against the defendant, Anderson, for $250,000, and exemplary or punitive damages, also $250,000, or such amounts as a jury may award.

The lawsuit was dated March 3, 2008.

Attorney David Gerald Jay, representing Kaminski, was out of town and unavailable for comment. Kaminski did not respond to a request for comment.

Amherst Town Attorney Tom Jones confirmed that the town received the complaint and would be investigating the charges and responding.

He said he did not recall the details of a previous case Kaminski brought against the town, which was under a different town highway superintendent. Jones said her case was one of several against the former superintendent.