Judge Declines to Punish Ex-Firefighter for Contempt in Medical Marijuana Termination Case

State Judge John Cordani ruled Friday that although Thomas Eccleston, a former Waterbury fire lieutenant, had clearly violated a January 29 order restricting how he communicates with city officials, the court would not issue a contempt citation. Cordani noted that Eccleston’s underlying lawsuit challenging his 2018 termination had already been dismissed.

“The court views the plaintiff as a sad person who is unjustifiably consumed with contempt for others and hateful feelings and who is unable to properly control himself,” wrote Judge Cordani. He said that while sanctions would be justified, he chose not to impose them.

Eccleston admitted in court and in filings that he knowingly violated the order, which barred him from contacting current or former city officials about the case except through the city’s attorney and prohibited profane or threatening language. The city cited a May 14 email to Mayor Paul Pernerewski as a clear violation. In it, Eccleston used inflammatory language and acknowledged breaking the order.

The January court directive had been issued in response to Eccleston’s continued use of profanities, ethnic slurs, and alleged threats in communications related to his lawsuit. Judge Cordani reviewed the May 14 email in private, stating that it referenced the ongoing case, accused officials of corruption, and attempted to pressure the mayor into settling. He described the message as containing a “veiled threat.”

Eccleston, who now lives in South Carolina, did not deny his actions. “Most of it is correct. I am contemptuous,” he said in a phone interview. “I don’t consider myself a sad person. I’m not going to back down.”

Eccleston was fired in 2018 after testing positive for marijuana in a random drug screening, which violated a “last-chance agreement” he had signed in 2015 to avoid termination following a domestic violence arrest. That agreement required random drug testing and made no distinction between legal and illegal marijuana use.

Two weeks prior to his failed drug test, Eccleston had obtained a state-issued medical marijuana card to treat PTSD. In his lawsuit, he claimed the firing violated state protections for medical marijuana patients. However, the court found that he was terminated not for being a cardholder, but for violating the last-chance agreement. That ruling is currently being appealed.

Eccleston also faces a pending criminal case for second-degree harassment filed earlier this year. Judge Cordani stated that while his ruling addressed only the civil court order, decisions regarding any violation of a separate criminal protective order would be left to the criminal court.