UPDATE: DiBello files suit against Charlestown in Superior Court

Westerly Sun has the scoop BEFORE any of the defendants are served with the papers.

By Will Collette

UPDATE: As of close of business on Friday, no  one in town - not the town, and none of the named persons in DiBello's earlier complaint - had been served with her lawsuit complaint, despite the article run by the Westerly Sun that went on-line at noon on Thursday.


According to the Westerly Sun, the suit was filed in court last Monday. Typically, the plaintiff's lawyer hires a process server to deliver the complaint to each defendant. Click here for the RI Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure.


It is highly unusual for a plaintiff to give the media such a filing several days before the papers are actually served on the defendants. Judges often frown on such behavior. We'll see whether this becomes an issue in this litigation. And, once I have a copy of the actual complaint, we'll provide you with more detail, including a copy of the complaint.

Posted on the Westerly Sun website at noon, Thursday January 26 - Chris Keegan has the story on Lisa DiBello's decision to file her lawsuit against the Town of Charlestown and nine present and former town officials.


The general outline of the lawsuit, as described in Chris's article, mirrors the content of her complaint to the RI Human Rights Commission.

She heard something nasty in 2005

In a nutshell: DiBello claims that she overheard a raunchy conversation in 2005 and when she attempted to report it anonymously, she was pulled into a formal proceeding, as required by law, but against her will. From that point on, DiBello claims there was a conspiracy against her led by former Town Administrator Richard Sartor and the others named in her lawsuit.

DiBello alleges the conspiracy peaked when Sartor engaged then Hopkinton Town Administrator William DiLibero to take the higher-paying Charlestown administrator job in return for DiLibero's promise to get rid of DiBello.

DiLibero did recommend to the Town Council that DiBello be fired in May 2010. You can read DiBello's initial complaint here, as well as detailed analysis here..

When we secure a copy of DiBello's 34-page lawsuit, we'll have more news and analysis.