Jennifer Sasso addresses the Dunkirk Common Council.

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz has sued former city dog control officer Jennifer Sasso.

Meanwhile, the Common Council has brought on Wayde Forster as Sasso’s replacement.

City Attorney Elliot Raimondo apparently served Sasso with the lawsuit at a Common Council meeting Tuesday. Sasso had just gone to the podium during the public comments period to criticize the city government’s handling of the dog shelter. Raimondo then rose from his seat, walked over to her holding the court papers in a manila envelope, and told her she was served.

Sasso’s contract was not renewed at the end of March, and she bit City Hall for its alleged mishandling of the dog control shelter in a series of social media posts and emails to the OBSERVER.

According to Wdowiasz’s lawsuit, some of the criticisms got personal, and constitute defamation.

The lawsuit posts as an exhibit a comment allegedly made by Sasso on another social media post. Sasso suggested Wdowiasz is having an affair with a local fire chief, and “getting off her bar stool and putting the drink down is the first thing that could help her administration.”

The suit, filed in state Supreme Court’s Chautauqua County branch, seeks “Damages on the amount of $327,000 which is the mayor’s salary over the course of six years.” It also wants $857.92 paid back for items Sasso allegedly stole from the city. Another exhibit posts receipts for the items she allegedly pilfered.

“The city chose not to renew Sasso’s contract after March of 2026 due to issues with the quality of Sasso’s work,” the lawsuit states. “Instead of moving on from this matter, Sasso stole city resources in her departure … constituting the misuse of public funds.”

The court filing argues that “while defamation and slander carry a higher burden for public officials … this burden has been reached with ‘actual malice’ with recent Facebook posts” that harm Wdowiasz’s professional reputation.

For her part, Sasso said she attended the council meeting “to stand for the dogs who can’t speak for themselves — the dogs who suffered because the city chose to not to follow the law.

“They chose not to listen, they chose not to act, and I’m here to confront the slanderous lies that have been used to distract from their suffering. … instead, you failed by neglect, silence and inaction. For months I raised concerns about the conditions the dogs were living in… I reported the lack of supplies, the unsafe environment, the absence of proper protocols,” and alleged failure to follow state laws.