Former Riverhead anti-bias chair files $5 million claim against town, Merrifield

Mark McLaughlin has turned a Riverhead boardroom fight into a legal threat that could cost the town more than $5 million. The former chair of the Anti-Bias Task Force filed a notice of claim against Riverhead Town and Council Member Denise Merrifield, alleging defamation, retaliation for protected speech and discrimination tied to a public dispute over the task force’s role.

The filing is a first formal step before a lawsuit, and it puts the town on notice that the conflict has moved well beyond a disagreement over committee procedure. McLaughlin’s attorney, Ronald D. Hariri, emailed the notice to Town Clerk James Wooten on May 18. Town Attorney Erik Howard rejected that filing the next day, saying it was not properly served because state law and town code require personal service. Hariri personally served the notice on May 20, and Howard later acknowledged receipt and declined further comment.

At the center of the claim are statements McLaughlin says Merrifield made during an April 2 Town Board work session and in later communications. The notice says Merrifield falsely portrayed McLaughlin as trying to “promote his political agenda under the banner of the Town of Riverhead” and accused his response to immigration enforcement concerns of being a “call to arms.” The filing also says Merrifield mischaracterized disputes involving LGBTQ participation in the Mosaic Street Fair and Festival.

The dispute has been building for months. Merrifield, who has served as the task force liaison since January 2025, publicly argued that the Anti-Bias Task Force is only an advisory body with no independent authority to act for the town. She said McLaughlin was seeking power the group does not have to advance his own agenda. A 2021 Town Board resolution required task force recommendations for events, programs, co-sponsored activities, publications, announcements, policies and funding requests to go to the Town Board for review and approval before action.

McLaughlin resigned in February 2026 after saying the restrictions left the task force unable to respond meaningfully to bias-related concerns. The broader conflict traces back to a question that has divided the town for years: whether the task force should be proactive through education and outreach, or reactive and limited to complaints. Riverhead reestablished the body in 2015 after years of inactivity following violent muggings targeting Hispanics, and the town describes it as a non-partisan group meant to address prejudice and intolerance.

The claim now raises the risk that Riverhead taxpayers could be pulled into the fight if the case becomes a lawsuit and leads to settlement costs, legal fees or a judgment. For a town already managing sensitive decisions on land use and governance, the filing adds a new test of how Riverhead handles discrimination complaints, dissent and the limits it places on its own advisory boards.