BY DAN VALENTI

BERKSHIRE, ss.

BARRYCLAIRMONT Plaintiff,

MELISSA MAZZEO, Defendant.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

SUPERIOR COURT DEPT. OF THE TRIAL COURT

CIVIL ACTION NO.

COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND

i. Introduction

1. On November 5, 2019, Defendant Melissa Mazzeo failed in her bid to become Mayor of the City of Pittsfield, losing the mayoral race 52.2% to 47.8% to the incumbent, Mayor Linda Tyer. Rather than be gracious in defeat, Ms. Mazzeo lashed out and looked to blame others. Indeed, following her election defeat, Ms. Mazzeo and others on her behalf embarked upon a very different kind of campaign; a campaign of defamation. This vengeful campaign was directed at Mayor Tyer’s husband, Plaintiff Barry Clairmont.

2. In the days after the election, Ms, Mazzeo and others acting on her behalf publicly declared as a matter of fact that Mr. Clairmont had engaged in criminal election fraud by and through making “unauthorized direct access to ballots inside City Hall.” Ms. Mazzeo and those acting on her behalf published these false statements of fact to the media, through press releases and on social media, among other forums. Ms. Mazzeo knew these statements to be false and/or published them with a reckless disregard to their troth or falsity.

3. The result of Ms. Mazzeo’s malicious campaign of defamation was entirely predictable. A media firestorm ensued, resulting in the ruination of Mr. Clairmont’s excellent reputation and the deterioration of his emotional health and well-being. The false attacks against Mr. Clairmont were particularly damaging given his profession as a Certified Public Accountant, a vocation where professional ethics must be perceived to be beyond reproach.

4. For these and the reasons discussed below, Mr. Clairmont is entitled to significant and substantial damages arising from the profound and substantial damages Ms. Mazzeo has caused Mr. Clairmont to suffer.

ii. Parties

5. Barry Clairmont (“Mr. Clairmont”) is an individual who resides in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Clairmont works as a Certified Public Accountant and is a partner at the accounting firm of Lombardi, Clairmont & Keegan. Mr. Clairmont is a former city counselor [sic] for the City of Pittsfield and is currently married to the City of Pittsfield’s Mayor, Linda M. Tyer (“Mayor Tyer”).

6. Melissa Mazzeo (“Ms. Mazzeo”) is an individual who resides at 275 Dalton Division Road, Dalton, MA 01226. Ms. Mazzeo is a former dental hygienist who served for a decade on the Pittsfield City Council. Ms. Mazzeo ran for Mayor of the City of Pittsfield in 2019 and lost to Mayor Tyer.

iii. Jurisdiction and Venue

This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to G.L.c. 212, § 4. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to G.L.c. 223, § 1.

iv. Factual Allegations

9. Mayor Tyer was elected to serve as the City of Pittsfield’s Mayor in November, 2015. She was the first mayor in the City’s history to be elected to serve a four-year term. Mayor Tyer was re-elected to serve a second four-year term in November, 2019.

10. The November 5, 2019 mayoral election was hard fought. In an election where nearly 12,000 votes were cast, Mayor Tyer defeated Ms. Mazzeo by 528 votes. On a percentage basis, Mayor Tyer defeated Ms. Mazzeo 52.23% to 47.76%.

11. Ms. Mazzeo refused to accept the results of the election. Instead, she looked to lash out and blame others. She also sought to undermine the results of the election so as to undermine Mayor Tyer’s victory.

12. In particular, shortly after election day, Ms. Mazzeo issued a press release which was widely disseminated to the media. In turn, the media reported on the press release and the underlying accusations made therein.

13. The press release noted that Ms. Mazzeo was seeking a recount of the election results due to the “significant concerns my campaign has about the integrity of the election here in Pittsfield.”

14. After overtly challenging the integrity of the election results, Ms. Mazzeo falsely alleged through her press release that, “[a]n individual closely related to the Tyer Campaign had unauthorized direct access to ballots inside City Hall.” This statement was false, defamatory, fabricated and/or made with a reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.

15. Ms. Mazzeo’s press release went on to claim: “[a]s a candidate and voter in Pittsfield, I am seeking to ensure that issues like this are brought to light and never happen again. Until we are provided answers to these issues, I will continue to pursue every avenue necessary

to ensure that the people of Pittsfield can be certain that their votes are protected and counted ~.” (emphasis supplied).

16. Almost immediately thereafter, Ms. Mazzeo confirmed publicly and to the media that the “individual closely related to the Tyer Campaign” whom she had referenced in her press release was Mr. Clairmont. Among other statements Ms. Mazzeo made to the media: “It was Barry Clairmont … being the husband of the candidate, I think that is the last place you would want to find yourself.”

17. WAMC reporter, Josh Landes, posted on Facebook that he had interviewed Ms. Mazzeo and “she told me” that “Tyer’s husband and former city councilor Barry Clairmont” was the individual she was referring to in her press release.

18. Ms. Mazzeo’s very public accusations launched against Mr. Clairmont succeeded in bringing about a very public, media firestorm. Television, radio, print and interact[ive] media in Western Massachusetts and beyond were abuzz about Mr. Clairmont’s alleged election fraud undertaken to aid his wife in her re-election efforts.

19. Newspaper headlines followed which repeated Ms. Mazzeo’s false statements. By way of example, a Berkshire Eagle headline read: “Mazzeo Claims Tyer’s Husband Had Access To Ballots Ahead of November 5 Election.”

20. WAMC, a national public radio station heard in various places throughout western Massachusetts, New York and Vermont, published an online article entitled, “Mazzeo Campaign Suggests Vote Tampering In Pittsfield Recount Request.”

21. The Berkshire Eagle even published an editorial on November 26, 2019 reacting to the public controversy caused by Ms. Mazzeo’s false claims. The Editorial, titled “Details Needed On City Election Challenge,” read, in part:

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The words and phrases used by Ms. Mazzeo and Andrew Hochberg, the attomey representing her in her challenge, have been cautious and purposefully vague. “Significant concerns,” “integrity” of the election process and “irregularities” have been used in recent days. The blunt truth, however, is that Ms. Mazzeo believes, or at least suspects, that the Tyer campaign stole the election. That is a serious allegation, one that could involve criminal conduct.

The Mazzeo camp’s concerns center around alleged unauthorized access to absentee ballots, in Monday’s recount, observers for Ms. Mazzeo challenged 386 ballots, the majority of which were cast for Mayor Tyer. They have been set aside for future review.

We now know that Mazzeo suspects Mayor Tyer’s husband and campaign treasurer, Barry Clairmont, had unauthorized access to ballots at the Registrar of Voters Office in City Hall …

22.
In addition to the traditional media outlets, online bloggers and social media users perpetuated the false narrative fabricated by Ms. Mazzeo. Individual citizens posted comments to internet blog posts and newspaper articles expressing outrage at Mr. Clairmont’s alleged illegal activities.

23. Ms. Mazzeo’s assertion that Mr. Clairmunt had been involved in election fraud or that he had “unauthorized direct access to ballots” was not simply a merely false statement of fact but instead was published by Ms. Mazzeo with knowledge that her statements were false. Indeed, Ms. Mazzeo admitted as much in writing.

24. Specifically, on December 13, 2019, Ms. Mazzeo acknowledged in a written exchange with representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Election Division that “there is no current evidence that Mr. Clairmont had access to the ballots at that time, the least senior clerk in that office does have the combination to the safe and we assume the Mayor does as well.” (emphasis supplied).

25. Stated simply, Ms. Mazzeo acknowledged in writing that she had no actual evidence that Mr. Clalrmont had engaged in election fraud or that he had “unauthorized direct access to ballots.” Nevertheless, she perpetuated knowing mistruths about him to injure him and her political adversary.

26. The Election Division of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts investigated Ms. Mazzeo’s claims and concluded that her claims were completely without merit. As Ms. Mazzeo was notified in writing:

There was no indication in the call that Mr. Clairmont was soliciting votes for or against any candidate or otherwise communicating with staff or voters.

The report was of his presence in the office. Upon receiving this information, Election Services Manager William Rosenberry contacted City Clerk Michele Benjamin who indicated that he came to the Registrar’s office to pick up a record previously requested and was waiting in the area where voters were using absentee ballots. Ms. Benjamin directed him to go into her office so she could give him the requested record, which would avoid him remaining within the area where voting was occurring. Upon receipt of the requested record, he promptly left the office. At no time did he interact with or interfere with voters or have access to ballots or other election materials.

27. Ms. Mazzeo’s malicious campaign of defamation perpetrated upon Mr. Clairmont had profound and severe consequences. Mr. Clairmont’s fine reputation in the community was ruined.

28. He likewise suffered extreme emotional distress based upon the very serious accusations of criminal misconduct. He worried that the false allegations would not only harm his career as a Certified Public Accountant but would impair his wife’s political career and the legitimacy of her election victory.

29. On or about December 6, 2019, Mr. Clairmont, through counsel, wrote to Ms. Mazzeo and demanded, among other things, that she “immediately and publicly declare, both through the issuance of a press release delivered to all local and regional media outlets, as well as

on all of [her] social media pages the following statement: (i) that [she is] aware of no facts which suggest that Mr. Clairmont was engaged in ’election fraud,’ (ii) that [she is] aware of no facts which suggest that Mr. Clairmont made unauthorized entry into any area of the City Clerk’s Office, (iii) that there is no evidence that Mr. Clairmont accessed any ballots inside City Hall or anywhere else and (iv) that [she] apologize[s] to Mr. Clairmont and his family for the harm [she] caused by virtue of [her] false assertions.”

30. Ms. Mazzeo ignored Mr. Clairmont’s counsel’s letter and did not respond in any manner whatsoever. She offered no public statement to mitigate against the severe harm she had caused, despite knowing that her underlying statements were false and defamatory,

Count I ~(Defamation)

31. Barry Clairmont incorporates by reference in their entirety all previous and subsequent paragraphs of this Complaint.

32. As set forth above, Melissa Mazzeo and her agents published false, fabricated and inaccurate statements of and concerning Barry Clairmont. Ms. Mazzeo knew her statements of fact were false and inaccurate, published them with a reckless disregard for the truth or should have known them to be false and inaccurate in the exercise of reasonable care.

33. Melissa Mazzeo’s statements of and concerning Barry Clairmont were defamatory. Indeed, the statements contending that Mr. Clairmont was involved in criminal misconduct were defamatory per se.

34. By and through Melissa Mazzeo’s publication of false statements of facts of and concerning Barry Clairmont, Barry Clairmont was held up to ridicule and scorn in the community, and his good name and excellent reputation was destroyed.

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35. As a result of Melissa Mazzeo’s conduct, Barry Clairmont has suffered significant damages, including compensatory damages, emotional distress damages and reputational damages.

Count II
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

36. Barry Clairmont incorporates by reference in their entirety all previous and subsequent paragraphs of this Complaint.

37. By publishing false and malicious statements of and concerning Barry Clairmont, Melissa Mazzeo intended to inflict emotional distress upon Barry Clairmont.

38. Melissa Mazzeo knew or should have known that emotional distress was likely to result from her conduct.

39. Melissa Mazzeo’s actions described above were extreme, outrageous and beyond the scope of common decency and were intended to cause Barry Clairmont severe emotional

distress.

40. As a result of Melissa Mazzeo’s conduct, Barry Clairmont has suffered severe damages for conduct which no reasonable person or persons should be expected to tolerate.

41. Melissa Mazzeo is responsible for these damages.

WHEREFORE, Barry Clairmont respectfully requests that the Court grant him the following relief:

i. Enter judgment for Barry Clairmont against Melissa Mazzeo on Counts I and II of the Complaint;

ii. Award Barry Clairmont damages in an amount to be determined by the jury against Melissa Mazzeo, plus interest thereon at the statutory rate;

iii. Award Barry Clairmont his costs and reasonable attorney’s fees;

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iv. Enter such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

REQUEST FOR JURY TRIAL

Barry Clairmont requests a trial by jury on all issues and claims so triable.

Dated: September__, 2020