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The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a well-respected litigation firm with an office in Hempstead, Long Island. Our focus is primarily in the area of civil rights, voting rights, employment discrimination, police misconduct, personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and criminal law. However, the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington is a full- service law firm handling matters in numerous areas of law and providing a wide range of services from contract formation to litigation and trial practice.
Court Allows Multimillion-Dollar Lawsuit against Nassau County Police Officers to Proceed in Case Involving Tasering of Man Suffering from Bipolar Disorder
A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Roosevelt man and his family has been allowed to proceed after the defendant Nassau County police officers were denied a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiffs, represented by Frederick K. Brewington, are seeking $50 million in damages, alleging violations of false imprisonment under the Fourth Amendment and New York State law, trespass, excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, assault and battery, municipal liability and qualified immunity.
In 2002, Shuay’b Greenaway, a field engineer at Extreme Installs, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When his mental health "decompensated," he would display a number of non-violent behavioral oddities. In 2007 and 2009, his mother, Sharon Knight, called 911 requesting assistance with transporting her son. When Hempstead Village police arrived, Mr. Greenaway refused to go to the hospital, but did not exhibit any violent behaviors.
On April 25, 2010, Mr. Greenaway did not take his dosage of Risperdal, a medication used to treat mental illness. Mrs. Knight called 911 for assistance with her son. She told the operator he was "not dangerous," but in need of help. Village of Hempstead Police Officers Frane Reado and Walter Ohr arrived at the scene, followed by Nassau County Police Officers Vincent Papa, Ronald Schmitt, Clarence Hudson and William Stio. The Nassau officers received a call about a “mental aided” person at 221 Amherst Street in Hempstead, but never asked the 911 dispatcher about Mr. Greenaway’s mental health condition, background or behavior before interacting with him, as required by Nassau County Police Department policy.
On April 25, 2011, Mr. Brewington filed a complaint on behalf of Mr. Greenaway and his family, with two amended complaints filed on January 17, 2012 and January 8, 2013 against the Nassau officers, seeking $50 million in damages and punitive damages. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on September 18, 2013, claiming that Mr. Greenaway was acting in a menacing manner and threatened the officers at the time of the incident. On March 31, 2015, Judge William F. Kuntz, II, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, denied the officers’ summary judgment and allowed the lawsuit to move forward.
Click here to read the court's decision.
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