After testimony was taken and evidence presented at an inquest and after listening to the closing argument of attorney Peter Creedon on March 22nd, 2024 a Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge awarded a $21.5 million dollar judgment to the twenty one fathers, mothers and children of the Veteran families who had resided at Veterans Way in Islandia, New York. The Veterans Way development had been specifically built to provide affordable housing for Veterans returning from active duty service in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was discovered, however, that as the six home development was being built it was being used by dirt runner Thomas Datre Jr. and his trucking companies as an illegal dumping ground for the disposal of thousands of tons of dirt and construction debris trucked in from construction sites in New York City and contaminated with banned pesticides, carcinogenic burn products and hazardous heavy metals.
Earlier in its representation of the Veterans families Creedon & Gill had compelled the DEC to order a complete investigation and remediation of the development to provide it a clean bill of health.
In making the award against Thomas Datre Jr. the Judge awarded $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages to each of he twenty one men, women and children that Creedon & Gill represented. It is believed that this is one of the largest awards of its kind, and it is one of the largest awards on Long Island in recent memory.