UNDATED (WTAQ) – A civil rights lawsuit filed by Eagle Nation Cycles against the City of Neenah and Winnebago County stemming from a 2012 police raid was dismissed Thursday.
Eagle Nation Cycles, Steven Erato, Wendy Williamson, Lottie Tucker and Michael Funk filed the suit seeking $50 million alleging their civil rights were violated during that raid.
In a five-page decision filed Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ attorneys failed to respond to motions or complete discovery.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Eagle Nation Cycles against the City of Neenah & Winnebago County.
The store, Steven Erato, Wendy Williamson, Lottie Tucker and Michael Funk sued the city and county, seeking $50 million, alleging their civil rights were violated during a 2012 police raid.
According to the five-page decision, filed Thursday, the plaintiffs’ attorneys failed to respond to motions or complete discovery.
You can read the decision here.
“In this case, dismissal is warranted not least because the undisputed failures to communicate appear to have been an almost reckless affront to normal procedures and good faith,” Judge William Griesbach wrote. “A party cannot simply lodge allegations of this nature against city officers and employees and then deny them the opportunity to timely discover the evidence on which they are based so they can obtain a prompt disposition of them in court.”
Griesbach also ordered Eagle Nation’s attorney, Cole White, to pay $1,500 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
Other defendants in the suit were Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson and Capt. Tom Long. Winnebago County Judge Scott Woldt was previously dismissed from the case.
Neenah City Attorney Jim Godleski released a statement on the decision: “The failure of the plantiffs to participate in discovery may have been an indication of the weakness of their claim. The permanent dismissal vindicates our position that the City and members of the NPD did not violate the plantiffs’ rights.”
Chief Wilkinson also said in a statement: “Anyone can accuse of anyone of anything; it is quite another matter to provide proof for sensational claims. This dismissal is a commentary about credibility.”
Late last year, Funk was killed by police officers during a standoff at Eagle Nation Cycles. Neenah police claim Funk had a weapon and failed to comply with officer’s commands to drop it.
That incident is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
