Mike Khader‘s lawsuit claiming that Mike Spano and others defamed him had its first day in court on Monday.
What’s the lawsuit about?
Khader alleges that after voting against a taxpayer-funded environmental study of property that is supposedly owned by the Spano family, he was defamed into losing his 2021 re-election campaign for Yonkers City Council President. He seeks over six million dollars in damages from a disparate group of defendants.
Khader’s first day in court
Khader and seven representatives for his accused defendants presented at Westchester County Supreme Court on Monday June 12th. Defendants Ron Matten and Hezi Aris are “pro se” litigants representing themselves. Two lawyers from Bleakley Platt & Schmidt represented Rosanne Gallego (Committee for a Better Yonkers). Paul W. Meyer, Jr. Esquire for Pasquale Mondesando (Rose Press printers). Lastly, City of Yonkers Corporation Counsel Matt Gallagher and Darius Chafizadeh of Harris Beach are representing Mike Spano.
And Spano’s role in this lawsuit is hotly debated. Khader asserts that he is suing Mike Spano as an individual. Therefore, he does not know why city-funded lawyers Gallagher and Harris Beach PLLC are representing citizen-Spano. Though Khader refers to Spano by his title of Mayor often in his complaint, he does not claim to be suing the office of Mayor of Yonkers or the City of Yonkers in any capacity. In response, Spano’s lawyers cite that Khader’s agent served notice of this lawsuit within Yonkers City Hall. Moreover, the office of Corporation Counsel was the signatory on that document. But for now, Spano’s role in this lawsuit–as an individual or as mayor–has not yet been decided by the court.
What has been decided by the court is that certain motions to dismiss this lawsuit have been denied. All defendants filed motions to dismiss this case. In the limited time in session today, Judge David Everett ruled on only a few. And he consistently denied these motions to dismiss. For each motion, the court is allowing this lawsuit to proceed “in the interest of justice.”
And while the court did not grant any motions to dismiss, he did urge the parties to settle. Twice, Judge Everett looked to the parties, specifically the defendants, and urged a settlement. Chafizadeh, representing Spano, vocally declared that no settlement would be offered now, or potentially ever, by his client.
Khader’s next day in court
The next scheduled court date is October 3rd, 2023. Issues of any remaining motions to dismiss and Spano’s role in this lawsuit ought to be resolved by then. In the meantime, Khader says that he may seek to subpoena other related parties for their deposition on the facts of his alleged defamation.
