MANSFIELD - The lawyer representing a former electric department employee who won a lawsuit against the town last summer is seeking to forbid Town Manager John D'Agostino from disposing of his assets, as legal wrangling over the case continues.

In a set of motions filed in federal court this week, Lynn Leonard, the attorney representing the former employee, Kimberly Stoyle, asked U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to stop D'Agostino from "spending, dissipating, transferring, selling or otherwise disposing" of cash or assets, including his house in Mansfield, except to pay his day-to-day expenses.

"Given the legal status of the case, there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff (Stoyle) will recover judgments against the defendant (D'Agostino)," Leonard wrote.

Leonard calculated that D'Agostino could owe Stoyle up to $1.24 million, broken down as $300,000 for compensatory damages, $500,000 for punitive damages, $375,000 for attorney's fees and costs and $72,296 in pre-judgment interest.

Leonard said the total exceeds the amount of any liability insurance available to D'Agostino. Leonard could not be reached for comment on the latest filings.

Leonard Kesten, the lawyer representing D'Agostino and the town of Mansfield in the case, has filed a motion arguing that D'Agostino is not personally liable for $500,000 in punitive damages because the text of the August jury verdict specifically awarded the punitive damages against the electric department.

Kesten also wants the judge to lower Leonard's requested attorney's fee of $300 an hour, and to reduce the number of hours for which Leonard is reimbursed for work done on Stoyle's behalf.

Kesten and Leonard discussed the case on Wednesday but were unable to come to an agreement, so Leonard has requested that Woodlock schedule a court hearing to settle the issues. In an interview, Kesten said a hearing may be scheduled for later this month.

In addition to the various motions filed by the attorneys Friday, the court also released a Sept. 28 letter, purportedly sent to Woodlock by Mansfield residents but not signed by any individuals. Attached to the letter were two recent Sun Chronicle articles relating to the case.

"It has become increasingly clear that Mr. D'Agostino has no regard for the Federal Court or the proceedings he has just come thru (sic)," the anonymous correspondents wrote to Woodlock. "As you can see, he continues to lie and harass Ms. Stoyle in the newspapers."