Westfield files new lawsuit against Gossard

Sheriff serves search warrants for Deputy Mayor’s, IT Director’s phones

The ongoing legal battle between Westfield Mayor Andy Cook’s office and the office of Clerk-Treasurer Cindy Gossard now includes a city-filed lawsuit against Gossard as an individual, separate from the lawsuit tied to her elected position, as well as search warrants executed by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department on both Mayor Cook’s chief of staff, Todd Burtron, and Westfield IT Director Chris Larson.

February

Regular readers of The Reporter will remember this story began in February when Mayor Cook filed a lawsuit against Clerk-Treasurer Gossard alleging she failed to provide information on a city-wide audit requested by the mayor. You can read more about that at this link.

June

In early June, Westfield-based attorney William Webster, representing Clerk-Treasurer Gossard, sent a letter to the Westfield City Council and Mayor Andy Cook notifying them the clerk-treasurer’s office had discovered that alleged spyware purchased by the City of Westfield had been installed on the clerk’s office computers. Details on that are available at this link.

July

Then, at the end of July, after a city council meeting at which Gossard updated the council on her side of the alleged spyware incident, city IT personnel confiscated several laptop computers from the clerk-treasurer’s office. Gossard filed a report with sheriff’s department about the missing computers, saying her office had been “raided” and that computers belonging to both the city and a private forensic IT company she hired were taken. You can read more about that at this link.

Now

This week, search warrants were served on both Burtron and Larson for their cell phones as part of an ongoing fact-finding investigation by the sheriff’s department, and a new lawsuit against Gossard has been filed.

On Tuesday, Aug. 17, the City of Westfield filed a “complaint for damages and request for injunctive relief” against both Cindy Gossard as an individual (rather than as Westfield Clerk-Treasurer) and against a John Doe.

The Reporter reached out to both Gossard and the City of Westfield. Comments from both sides are available in today’s edition.

The John Doe in this case is the unnamed forensic IT person hired by Gossard to investigate the alleged spyware on clerk’s office computers.

According to the motion filed Tuesday, “The City has made multiple attempts to obtain the contract Gossard signed with John Doe and the identity of John Doe, but Gossard has refused to provide that information. The City has no adequate remedy at law because Gossard’s and John Doe’s unlawful conduct is ongoing, will have significant negative effects on the City and its employees, vendors, and residents, and cause damage to the City and its residents that money damages will not repair.”

The introduction to this suit offers the following explanation for why Gossard is being sued as an individual rather than as an elected official: “Cindy Gossard has again forced the City to file a lawsuit at taxpayer expense. This time, however, the actions she took to necessitate this filing did not relate to her duties as the City’s Clerk-Treasurer.”

Alleged: Computer trespass

In the portion of the suit labeled “Computer Trespass,” it reads, in part, “Gossard knowingly or intentionally accessed the City’s computer system and/or computer network, or part thereof, without authorization, in violation of Indiana Code Section 35-43-2-3. The City is entitled to relief under the Indiana Offenses Against Property Act, Indiana Code Section 34-24-3-1, including treble damages and attorney’s fees. The City is also entitled to an injunction ordering Gossard and John Doe to return to the City all property and information in their possession, custody, or control.”

The City is seeking a judgment against Cindy Gossard, “in her individual capacity, and John Doe, in an amount to be determined at trial, treble damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees under the Indiana Crime Victims Relief Act, and all other just and proper relief.”

Alleged: Conversion

In the portion of the suit labeled “Conversion,” it reads, in part, “The City is the owner of property that is in the possession of Gossard and/or her agent, John Doe, and the City is lawfully entitled to possession of such property. Gossard and John Doe have knowingly or intentionally exerted unauthorized control over property belonging to the City in violation of Ind. Code §35-43-4-3. The City has been injured and has suffered damages as a direct and proximate result of Gossard’s unauthorized control over such property. The City is entitled under Ind. Code §34-4-30-1 to treble damages, costs of this action and reasonable attorney’s fees.”

Preliminary injunction

The city has also filed a “Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” asking that Gossard and John Doe, “return all City information and data she downloaded and/or obtained from the City’s computer network,” and to, “identify the name, address, and contact information of defendant John Doe, Gossard’s agent who accessed and downloaded information from the City’s computer network.”

The full suit filed Tuesday, Aug. 17 by the city against Gossard is available from The Reporter at this link.

The “Motion for Preliminary Injunction” filed the same day is available at this link.

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Mayor Cook’s perspective

Editor’s note: The following is a statement from Westfield Mayor Andy Cook regarding the search warrants executed earlier this week.

Search warrants

Yesterday, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department served a search warrant at City Services. It stems from an incident a few weeks ago.

You may know, Informatics Director Chris Larsen stopped a cybersecurity attack at City Hall. He, along with the Westfield Police Department, seized unauthorized computers being used by an unidentified and unauthorized individual in City Hall. The same night that Chris stopped the active security breach, he reached out to the Clerk to ask her if she knew anything about it. She never responded. The Clerk Treasurer later said that she did not know what information was taken.

Chris did the right thing. Sadly the person initiating the cyber-attack, John Doe, is bringing up theft charges despite the fact that after learning about his involvement, the computers were returned. As such, deputies in their fact-finding effort, came to City Services and confiscated Chris and Todd Burtron’s cell phones.

I know this is unsettling and infuriating to those of us who serve the community. I also know that there is uneasiness that personal information of our employees may have been compromised in the Clerk’s office. We are working with our legal team, our cyber insurance carrier, law enforcement and Informatics to understand what was downloaded. I want to ensure you that we will not rest until we understand the breadth of this attack and who is behind it.

Lawsuit

Editor’s note: The following is a statement from Westfield Mayor Andy Cook regarding the lawsuit filed against Gossard.

This action is a necessary response because the Clerk-Treasurer let an unknown, unauthorized individual access the City’s systems and download data.

The Clerk-Treasurer admitted she did not know what the person downloaded.  Were city payroll and vendor records, sensitive financial information and employee personal information taken?  We have no idea. After trying to get answers from the Clerk, with no response, the only option is turning to the courts. There is a trust and obligation that the City of Westfield ensure the City’s systems are secure. This trust should extend to the Clerk-Treasurer and she has failed. Any data downloaded needs to be identified and returned as soon as possible.

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Gossard’s perspective

Editor’s note: The following are excepts from a statement by Cindy Gossard regarding both the search warrants and the lawsuit filed this week. You can read Gossard’s full statement at this link.

At 9:00 p.m. on August 17, 2021, Mayor Cook initiated his third lawsuit against me this year, claiming the City has been “forced” to file another costly lawsuit. This abusive lawsuit is a clear exercise in political issue framing that attempts to seize and control the narrative regarding my efforts to investigate the Administration’s access into the computers in my office. I find no coincidence in the fact that this lawsuit was filed late in the evening on the same day criminal search warrants were executed upon Administration officials as a part of a criminal probe into the Administration’s July 26, 2021, raid upon my office.

The allegations in the Administration’s third lawsuit against me are false, and I believe they have been carefully crafted in order to both mislead the public regarding my actions as the Clerk-Treasurer of Westfield and to intimidate an independently elected official into ceasing an investigation into the Administration’s actions.

Unlike the Administration’s previous two lawsuits this year, this time the Administration is attempting to sue me in my individual capacity. I believe this is a clear intimidation tactic that is designed to prevent my counsel from effectively defending the Administration’s lawsuit. I anticipate the Administration will argue that I should be personally responsible for the cost of legally defending my Office’s investigation into the Administration’s actions.

As the Clerk-Treasurer of the City of Westfield, I am an independently elected official that is not beholden to the whims of Mayor Cook. I am charged with separate duties and powers under the Indiana Code, including a duty to maintain the integrity and security of the City’s financial data. To be clear: all of the actions I have taken to investigate the Administration’s access into my Office’s computers have been undertaken in my role as a duly elected official pursuant to the legal duties and powers of my Office.

Further, I believe the allegations of this lawsuit have been carefully crafted to mislead the public regarding an investigation by my office and for the purpose of intentionally defaming my personal and public reputation.