Eileen Lavigne Flug has been honored by the Connecticut Law Tribune’s 2020 Legal Awards as a “Game Changer” for affecting public policy to assist victims of domestic violence.
In 2019, she was recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) as among the year’s “First 100 Plus” leaders who make a positive difference in the organization’s work to assist survivors of domestic violence. A breakfast and awards ceremony were held on November 15, 2019 at the Hartford Downtown Marriott. Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas was also honored at this event for his department’s interpretation of a conflict between the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other state statutes that favored protecting victims of family violence.
Eileen Flug, who represents the Town of Westport, encouraged CCADV and their attorney Mark Sommaruga to intervene in a FOIA complaint filed against the Town and its police department by The Westport News, a division of Hearst Media, when the newspaper was denied the names and addresses of victims of family violence in a dual arrest situation in Westport. With the support of CCADV and other organizations that support victims of domestic violence, legislation to correct the conflict in the FOIA and extend protection to victims of family violence was sponsored by 33 Connecticut legislators, passed unanimously in both the house and the senate, and became law on October 1, 2019.
Eileen is deeply committed to the Fairfield County community. From 2013 to 2017, she was the elected Moderator of the 36-member Westport Representative Town Meeting, and she served on that body as an elected representative for nearly 12 years. She is an active Rotarian, serving as past president and current board member of the Westport Sunrise Rotary, and is a board member of the Sunrise Rotary 21st Century Foundation. Eileen is a partner in Social Venture Partners-Connecticut. She serves on the Advisory Council for the Westport Museum for History and Culture and serves on the executive committee of, and previously chaired, the Westport-Weston Chapter of the Connecticut Bar Association. In the past, Eileen has served as a member of the Employment Steering Committee of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation and has served on the boards of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, Friends of Westport Parks and Recreation, Green Village Initiative, and the American Society of Botanical Artists, among many other pro bono roles. Eileen has also volunteered as pro bono counsel with the Pro Bono Partnership.
View the award at 27:17 on the virtual broadcast at https://bit.ly/3cQJ75K.