Smithtown will pay $50G to softball umpire to settle suit

Smithtown will pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit by a softball umpire who said he tripped on a mound surrounding one of the Daniel J. Flynn Memorial Park ballfields in 2014. 

Bernard J. Dillon, a longtime umpire for USSSA, an amateur sports association, said in a 2015 state Supreme Court suit that he hurt himself on a concrete mound near the third baseline of the complex’s Blue Field. The mound was camouflaged by dirt and sand and was partly hidden by a team bench, he said, according to court documents. 

A town maintenance crew leader testified that the mound had been installed to divert water and prevent rainwater from pooling on the field. The mound was removed in a nearly finished $7 million rebuild of the complex. "There was no need for it given the built-in drainage system" under the four new artificial turf fields, town spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo said. 

Judge William G. Ford in 2017 dismissed the suit, writing that Dillon had failed to show the ballfield was in a dangerous or defective condition. That decision was reversed on appeal. Court documents did not specify Dillon's injuries.

Smithtown attorney Matthew Jakubowski did not respond to an emailed request for comment. A lawyer for Dillon, John Juliano, did not respond to a message left at his East Northport office. 

Town officials hope to turn the town once again into the tournament destination it was in the 1980s, when weekend play drew teams from across the region. Organizers left because of field drainage problems and more luxurious alternatives elsewhere. The tournaments attract hundreds of players and their families, generating thousands of dollars in municipal field fees and commerce for local businesses, town officials have said. 

Long Island has about 1,000 softball teams, and game officials have said the town's improvements will set its facility apart from others on the Island.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.