CHESTER – Town Clerk Linda Zappala and the Town of Chester are named in a federal lawsuit filed by former Deputy Town Clerk Nanette Batista-Perez, who claims that Zappala fired her for supporting Town Supervisor Robert Valentine in his re-election bid. Zappala was supporting Councilman Robert Courtenay for the supervisor position.
Republican Councilman Courtenay lost the GOP primary to Valentine and vowed to run as a third-party candidate. Both Courtenay and Valentine lost to Democratic Councilman Brandon Holdridge, who became town supervisor on January 1.
The lawsuit alleges that Chester’s Town Clerk, Linda Zappala, violated the First Amendment by dismissing Batista-Perez for political reasons. According to the complaint, Zappala did not reappoint Nanette Batista-Perez as a deputy clerk because of Batista-Perez’s support of Robert Valentine in the 2023 Chester supervisor race. The deputy town clerk is married to Orlando Perez, a member of the Chester Republican Committee. Orlando Perez voted to replace Zappala who served as vice-chairperson of the committee and also supported Valentine’s campaign for re-election.
After the November election, Zappala told Batista-Perez she would not reappoint her to the position she held since 2020 because she was “collateral damage.”
Zappala had considered Batista-Perez an “excellent employee,” according to the fired deputy’s attorney, Christopher Watkins. According to the complaint, Zappala fired her deputy because “she was concerned about her own political “self-preservation” and that she could not trust Batista-Perez because she and her husband had supported Valentine.” Batista-Perez also alleges that the firing was linked to her husband’s vote to replace Zappala on the GOP Committee.
“This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment,” said Watkins. “Who Nanette or her husband supported in an election had absolutely nothing to do with her ability to do the work as a deputy town clerk. By all accounts, including Zappala’s, Nanette was an excellent deputy clerk.” Watkins added, “Unfortunately, Ms. Zappala chose to place her own political agenda above the interests of Chester’s residents.”
Batista-Perez claims in the suit that she suffers from fibromyalgia, which has become “much worse” since being fired and claims the termination was malicious and made in reckless disregard for her constitutional rights.
She is seeking to recoup her past and future lost wages, with interest, as well as compensatory damages for her worsening medical condition she says is a result of Zappala’s treatment.
