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Monessen and police chief named in slander suit

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An Irwin company has filed a slander lawsuit against Monessen and its city police chief over comments that allegedly besmirched the company’s reputation and interfered with its ability to do business in the city.

Bella Construction & Development Inc. in Irwin, through attorney Joel Sansone, filed the complaint in federal court, naming the City of Monessen and the city’s police chief, James Smith, as defendants.

The company was contracted by some city residents to do damage inspections and repair properties after a May 2018 hailstorm in the city. In July 2018, the suit contended, Smith “publicly attacked the plaintiff’s reputation” in a news article in the Mon Valley Independent newspaper.

Sansone alleged Smith warned residents not to sign contracts or make insurance claims through companies soliciting in the city without first talking to the police department.

The suit contended that Smith further requested that anyone who came into contact with a company representative should call 911 to report it.

“Plaintiff, as well as the general public, understood defendant Smith’s comments to be a reference to the plaintiff and alleged unsavory and/or illegal activities committed by the plaintiff,” Sansone wrote.

After the article was published, several property owners dissolved their contracts with Bella Construction, Sansone contended.

He wrote that Smith’s statements painted the company “in a poor and false light … and otherwise defamed plaintiff’s character,” noting that the company suffered “great financial losses.”

The suit contended that what Smith said “effectively banned” Bella Construction from doing business in the city, in favor of having residents use Monessen-based companies.

The suit makes equal protection, due process, tortious interference, slander and other claims.

A message was left for Smith at the city police department, but he did not return a call for comment on the suit.

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