A court has ordered the village of Westfield to pay legal fees to a man in a Freedom of Information Law case.

State Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon also ordered Westfield to produce the records sought by Robert Neratko.

According to Hanlon’s decision, Neratko made his original FOIL records request in February 2025. Westfield sent him a letter March 4 informing that the “FOIL request is now available for you to review/purchase.” Neratko replied with an appeal of the information released.

“The petitioner contends that (Westfield) has constructively denied petitioner’s FOIL appeal dated March 31, 2025, by not complying with the time parameters set forth under (New York Public Officers Law),” Hanlon wrote. “The petitioner contends that he has exhausted the applicable administrative remedies… and has a right of prompt access to the records.

“The court agrees.”

Hanlon’s decision is silent on any specifics about the records Neratko requested.

Westfield “failed to produce in a timely fashion, and in some cases at all, documents requested by the petitioner through his lawful FOIL request,” she wrote. “The petitioner should not have been compelled to bring an action in court in order to compel the respondents to comply with the request.”

Hanlon ordered Westfield to pay Neratko $1,390.27 to cover the cost of the litigation, plus his attorney’s fees.