Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri has been dropped from a civil lawsuit brought against him by his sons’ former business partner.
The mayor, along with his sons Paolo and Anthony, Jr., were sued by Jeffrey Hughes in June 2010.
Hughes and Staffieri’s sons owned Connie’s, a bar-restaurant on Elizabeth Street in Derby.
In his lawsuit, Hughes claimed that the Staffieri family wrongly forced him out as an owner of the business. They changed the locks without even telling him, the lawsuit claimed.
The mayor was named as a defendant in the lawsuit because he allegedly saw Hughes trying to enter the locked building in March 2010 and called police to report a break-in.
The mayor has said he was not involved with the dispute, saying it was between his sons and Hughes.
Jeffrey Hughes is the younger brother of Ken Hughes, a Derby Aldermen who previously served as the mayor’s campaign manager.
Mayor Staffieri was dropped from the lawsuit Tuesday, Jan. 10.
Hughes’ attorney, Ira B. Grudberg, said the legal claim against the mayor was weak.
“I decided I could not make a case against him,” Grudberg said. “He stuck his nose in, but my guy being denied entry into the premises was really done by the two kids.”
A message seeking comment was left with the mayor’s lawyer.
Hughes’ lawsuit against Paolo and Anthony, Jr. is still active.
The case is filed in Superior Court in Milford. The withdrawal of action against the mayor was the first new filing connected to the lawsuit in nine months.
Connie’s closed June 26, 2010.
A new bar-restaurant, Bar None, opened in the space Aug. 13, 2011.
The mayor owns Plaza on the Green, the shopping center where Connie’s was located, and was the restaurant’s previous owner.
