TOP STORY: Old Lyme Racks Up About $13,000 in Legal Fees for Withholding Documents While Shoemaker Foots Bill for $250 Fine

OLD LYME—Costs for the Town of Old Lyme have exceeded $13,000 to resolve a Freedom of Information complaint from a local news outlet that Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker held back serious allegations against a member of the independent Old Lyme Ambulance Association.  

A review of legal bills filed at the Town Hall shows the town has spent at least $13,035 to defend Shoemaker in front of the state Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) since the case began more than a year ago. That is when the CT Examiner appealed to the transparency watchdogs to compel Shoemaker to comply fully with its request for documents, including any allegations of sexual assault or harassment going back to the beginning of 2024.

Shoemaker ultimately produced two incident reports containing accusations that an adult Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) touched an intern inappropriately and repeatedly, according to the testimony of CT Examiner reporter Francisco Uranga. But FOIC hearing officer Valicia Dee Harmon noted 168 days had elapsed since the news outlet asked for the information, and it was only provided after the commission got involved.

The commission in June ordered the town to respond promptly to requests for public documents going forward.

A state police spokesman said the law enforcement investigation into the EMT concluded in December. He was never charged.

The legal invoices from the New London-based Suisman Shapiro firm span the alleged incident in March 2024 through the current bill cycle. 

Since the bills in many instances were not specific enough for LymeLine to independently verify which fees pertained to the case against Shoemaker, the first selectwoman sat down with LymeLine to identify the relevant expenses. 

Included in the legal fees was $3,250 for attorney Kristi D. Kelly to prepare for and attend FOIC hearings in December 2024 and April 2025, plus a meeting of the full commission last month.

Attorneys John A. Collins III and Michael P. Carey, as well as a member of the paralegal staff, joined Kelly in billing the town for numerous emails, conference calls and meetings. Other expenses included reviewing files, redacting documents, corresponding with a commission ombudsman regarding complaint resolution, reading CT Examiner articles on the subject and writing hearing briefs. 

The town pays the attorneys $185 per hour, while paralegal staffers receive $95 per hour. The attorneys receive $37 for any task that takes less than 20 minutes. 

Rare Fine

The FOIC last month also upheld Harmon’s decision to issue a rare $250 civil fine.

Shoemaker took responsibility for the fine. From her office in the Town Hall this week, she showed LymeLine a copy of the check dated earlier this month from her personal account and the green postcard from the United States Postal Service confirming receipt. Russell Blair, spokesman for the FOIC, on Friday said the payment had not yet been processed. 

“I made a mistake,” Shoemaker said. “I paid the fine. And we’ve revamped.” 

Shoemaker in a written follow-up was more specific about the mistakes she made in handling the request for public documents.

She acknowledged receiving the two incident reports in March, which she said she “failed to recall” while responding to multiple Freedom of Information requests in June. 

“When I became aware of the outstanding incident reports at the December FOIA hearing, I directly provided them to the FOIA hearing officer and CT Examiner,” she said.

Kelly last month told the commission she had “no knowledge as one of the town’s attorneys that an incident report even existed” until the December hearing. 

Old Lyme Republican Selectwoman Jude Read, in response to a request for comment, said it sends a bad message when Town Hall officials cover up allegations of sexual assault.

Read is running for reelection on the Republican ticket along with first selectman candidate John Mesham.

“Yes, the town has wasted probably thousands of dollars. Yes, the First Selectwoman has chosen to break the law,” Read said in a written response to LymeLine. “But more importantly, what does it say to every other young man or woman subjected to this kind of thing in the workplace? It says, ‘keep quiet. Don’t talk. We don’t want to know about it.’ And I think that’s just plain wrong.” 

Shoemaker this week apologized for failing to recall the documents.

“I am sorry for this oversight,” she said. “I take full responsibility for it, and have initiated additional FOIA processes at Town Hall.”

The hearing officer in her decision acknowledged Shoemaker has implemented a more formal process for logging and tracking Freedom of Information requests, assigned an administrative assistant to be the point person, and signed up for yearly FOI education training with the commission’s public education officer.

Shoemaker emphasized the trooper investigating the case had access to all of the documents at the onset of his investigation.

The state police spokesman said troopers submitted an arrest warrant to the court, but prosecutors declined to move forward with the case.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with information from the FOIC spokesman.