Two previously suspended Westhampton Beach Village Police officers this week filed separate notices of claim, the typical precursor to a lawsuit, alleging that village officials have violated their civil rights.

Officers Michael Bruetsch and Joseph Pesapane, who have been limited to desk duty since their reinstatement late last year, filed nearly identical claims last Thursday, March 4, that list the village, its police department, Police Chief Ray Dean and the entire board of trustees as defendants. The notices accuse the defendants of forcing the officers to work in a hostile environment, engaging in retaliation against them, treating them unfairly, and committing libel and slander against them, among other complaints.

Neither claim includes a dollar figure for damages sought by the officers, though both notices state that they have suffered injuries including “pain, suffering and emotional distress,” along with “loss of reputation, humiliation, [and] character assassination.” Both claims state that the plaintiffs will be seeking “compensatory losses for legal fees.”

Attorney Bill Keahon, who is representing Officers Bruetsch and Pesapane, said Friday that his clients will be filing lawsuits at some point. He declined to say how much money they will be seeking in damages, explaining that he and his partner Joseph Ferrante will be handling the claims and pending litigation.

Officers Bruetsch and Pesapane were suspended with pay by Westhampton Beach Mayor Conrad Teller in October after a Suffolk County Internal Affairs Bureau investigation concluded that they lied to superior officers about the circumstances involving another officer’s missing handgun last year. The officers were ordered back to work in December by the Village Board, but both have been kept on desk duty by the order of Mayor Teller.

The filing of the claims came to light during last Thursday night’s contentious Village Board meeting, which lasted more than two hours and during which trustees also approved four resolutions that Westhampton Beach Village Attorney Bo Bishop said could open the municipality to additional litigation.

Village Board member Hank Tucker, who voted in favor of the four resolutions along with fellow trustees Joan Levan and Jim Kametler, said the intent of the documents is to examine complaints of “malfeasance” in the village’s police department. Mr. Tucker said board members also need more information to make informed decisions regarding the disciplinary hearings that Mayor Teller has been demanding the board hold for the two suspended police officers.

The four resolutions adopted last week, all by identical 3-2 votes, order Chief Dean to provide the board with reports on a number of practices of the police department, including one pertaining to discipline records. The second refers to missing video and audio evidence from March 8, 2009—the day that a third officer reported that his personal handgun was removed from his locker at police headquarters, an incident that eventually sparked the Internal Affairs Bureau investigation involving Officers Bruetsch and Pesapane.

The resolution asking for a detailed explanation of the missing video and audio evidence also requests information involving someone described as “Citizen K,” who was arrested on September 7, 2009, and charged with DWI by Westhampton Beach Village Police. Though she is not named in the resolution, “Citizen K” clearly refers to former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot, who is also represented by Mr. Keahon. In an earlier interview, Mr. Keahon revealed that four minutes of video taken during Ms. Kabot’s arrest on September 7 were missing.

The third resolution requests a report of records concerning the loss of a firearm around March 8, 2009—the incident that sparked the outside investigation. The fourth demands a report on the investigations of penal law offenses spanning from January 1, 2009, and March 4, 2010, the latter being the date of last week’s board meeting.

Village Board member Toni-Jo Birk, who voted with the mayor each time, tried to table the four resolutions but failed. Mayor Teller refuted each resolution after it was read, calling them “asinine” and “ridiculous.” He scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon, with the intent of rescinding the four resolutions, but canceled it at the last minute after learning that one board member was not going to attend. The mayor declined to identify the board member.

Chief Dean declined to comment on the two notices of claim or the complaint leveled against his department by Mr. Tucker. When asked Tuesday if he would follow the orders of the four resolutions, Chief Dean referred a reporter to his attorney, Michael Axelrod of Certilman, Balin, Adler and Hyman, LLP in East Meadow. Mr. Axelrod could not be immediately reached for comment.

Explaining his reason for approving the four resolutions, Mr. Tucker cited a section of New York State Village Law stating that the board of trustees has the authority to set the ground rules for “the examination, hearing, investigation and determination of charges” against a police officer when deciding whether or not to hold a disciplinary hearing.