PITTSBURGH – A Pennsylvania law firm is suing the Borough of Sewickley and one of its council members claiming its confidential tax information was unlawfully shared with third parties.
Ference & Associates LLC, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint Jan. 10 in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County against Hendrik van der Vaart and Borough of Sewickley alleging invasion of privacy. ,
The plaintiff alleges that van der Vaart, a member of the council of the Borough of Sewickley, disclosed local businesses' confidential tax information to third parties. It alleges van der Vaart sent an email on Jan. 10, 2019, to people associated with the Sewickley Chamber of Commerce to ask for help collecting taxes. The plaintiff alleges its confidential tax information was disclosed in the email and its privacy was violated.
The plaintiff seeks actual and punitive damages, a trial by jury, interest and all other just relief. It is represented by Stanley Ference III and Brian Samuel Malkin of Ference & Associates LLC in Pittsburgh.