Nolan Perroni, PC - Wins Landmark Civil Service Promotion Case for Methuen Firefighter - Commission slams every level of city government

Nolan Perroni, PC was very proud to represent Methuen firefighter Tracy Blanchette in her courageous fight against systemic discrimination in Methuen's fire service, which fight resulted in this landmark victory. Every level of government actively worked against the appellant in order to preserve a culture of favoritism and gender bias. The Civil Service Commission here has, in a 58-page stinging decision, called the City on the carpet, not just for their discriminatory employment practices, but for concealing conflicts of interest, for outright ignoring complaints of gender bias and for the repeatedly dishonest sworn-testimony by top ranking city officials.

In light of the intolerable conduct proven in this significant case, the Commission is prepared to issue the very rare remedy or ordering that the City promote Ms. Blanchette from private to Captain, with all back pay and benefits.

In concluding that gender bias fatally undermined the justification for bypass offered by the City, the Commission found that Blanchette has had a remarkable 26+ year career, despite the obvious challenges associated with being the City's first female firefighter and only ever Methuen firefighter to give birth and manage a family working 24-hour shifts.

Among other things, the Commission found:

• Given how dubious I am of much of Chief Sheehy’s testimony concerning the process, the City’s evidence is not credible and cannot be relied upon to sustain its burden of proof in this bypass appeal.

• The predisposition in Tulley's favor was compounded by Chief Sheehy's predisposition against Blanchette due to a proven personal and institutional bias against her in which her gender was a contributing factor.

• Sheehy thinks the number of women firefighters - three - is sufficient...he sees no need to increase the number, to recruit women into the fire service, or to take any proactive steps to encourage more female applicants in Methuen. He has never done so, nor has he ever thought about doing so. As is often the case with unconscious biases, some people simply refuse to acknowledge them, no matter how obvious they may appear to others.

• multiple witnesses testified about the mutual back-scratching employment culture available to the male but not the female firefighters of the MFD.

• Blanchette was treated unfairly, in violation of the basic merit principles set forth in GL c. 31, Sec. 1, and that instead gender bias fatally undermined the justification for bypass offered by the City.

• Chief Sheehy exercised great influence over the other three interview panelists (two of whom had never worked in the fire service), going so far as to advise them at the start of the interview process of the answers he expected to hear based on the questions posed to the candidates.

• It is plainly evident to me that all the contractual and other internal processes normally in place to ensure fair treatment were, in fact, unavailable to her, and instead were actively or passively working against her.

• Despite being a city of over 50,000 people, Methuen has only had four female firefighters in its history...Chief Sheehy seemingly does not believe that women are underrepresented in the Methuen Fire Department. When asked if he would consider requesting an all women's civil service list to address this issue, Sheehy replied, "I don't think we're lacking in numbers, though," and "I didn't even know there was an all female list where I could grab a few."

• Chief Sheehy testified, "I'm not looking to recruit women."

• Despite his long tenure as Union President and the existence of discriminatory conditions (women barred from certain shifts, locations and assignments reserved for men only), Sheehy never filed a greivance to remedy this disparate treatment of female firefighters.

• The record persuasively demponstrated that Blanchette was consistently scored unfairly during the internal interview presided over by Chief Sheehy.

• I can remember no other example of the use of a post-Assessment Center promotional process that was as flawed as this one...

• Anne Randazzo, the City's Human Resources Director and Chief Equal Employment Officer, did not testify forthrightly.

• The City Council ignored Blanchette's gender discrimination complaint. It approved the promotion of Tulley on February 4, 2019, after receiving Appellant’s detailed complaint of gender discrimination. The Council never asked a single question of Chief Sheehy during its meeting and Councilor McCarty voted in favor of Tulley without even mentioning his family relationship with the Intervenor.

• Randazzo is the City official responsible for investigating complaints of discrimination. She was directly involved in this case. She never even considered looking into the complaint, even though she received a copy from either Chief Sheehy or the Council shortly after it was filed...For that matter, neither did the Mayor, the Chief, the Council, or the Union.

Read the Decision Here

Nolan Perroni, PC win Arbitration case for Worcester County Sheriff’s Office - Sick Time Incentive

Nolan | Perroni, PC and NEPBA recently won an important class action arbitration decision that will benefit members of six (6) Worcester County Sheriff’s Office academy classes - dating back to 2018. As a result, retroactive, bonus personal days will be granted for qualifying officers.

NP’s attorney Gary Nolan represented the Union at arbitration.

In the case, the Union argued that (1) the previous practice of waiting 6 months plus one quarter before a “bonus personal day” could be earned was replaced by the State Sick Time law’s waiting period of 90-days; and that as a result, (2) probationary officers began to earn bonus time immediately upon completing the 90-day period. The Worcester Sheriff’s Office denied the union’s request for all academy classes, and despite the changes in the law and in the CBA, the Sheriff was continuing to make new officers wait a full nine (9) months before they could receive any bonus time.

The arbitrator held that “the contract favors the Union’s interpretation of the contract in large measure,” and agreed with the union that “with the removal of the six-month bar for earning paid sick leave, the parties tacitly agreed or should have understood that the benefit would be awarded to officers who have earned and may take paid sick leave provided he or she does not use a sick day in the qualifying quarter.”

To read the decision, click here.

Nolan | Perroni, PC wins Sick Time Abuse Meetings Arbitration

Nolan | Perroni, PC and NEPBA recently won an arbitration decision upholding significant past agreements governing sick time abuse investigations. NP Attorney Gary Nolan represented the Union.

The arbitrator ruled that several actions by the Sheriff that led to this case should cease and desist. As a result of the arbitrator’s ruling, the Worcester County Sheriff:

• Will no longer be able to hold sick time meetings where there is no actual suspicion of abuse.

• May not hold sick time meetings based solely on an employee’s use of more than 40-hours of sick time.

• Will no longer be able to hold sick time meetings based on an employee’s pattern of sick time use where an employee has used 40-hours or less sick time and has provided proper documentation where applicable.

• Will no longer be able to issue baseless discipline to employees as a “placeholder to memorialize a meeting” where no finding of fault or rule transgression occurred. The arbitrator held that such discipline, as was issued here, is “simply not sustainable as a matter of equity and sound practice.” The employer was ordered to cease and desist issuing discipline in such instances.

• Will no longer be able to ignore the parties 2014 Settlement Agreement which requires the Sheriff to inform employees before any such meeting that they are in fact suspected of sick time abuse, and to also explain the reasons why abuse is suspected.

• The Sheriff had argued that they were not bound by this agreement, and also claimed, both in its grievance denial and through witnesses, that they did give such notice to employees. However, it is clear that the arbitrator did not credit the testimony of the Sheriff’s witnesses, as he found specifically that “The Employer violated the contract by not informing officers that the sick leave meetings conducted by AS Trainor following the sick leave audit conducted by AS Rives were sick time abuse investigations conducted pursuant to Article 17, Section 5.”

To read the decision, click here.

NP Wins Vacation Accrual Arbitration for our NEPBA friends in Northern Maine

NP Attorney Peter Perroni got a great arbitration decision recently for NEPBA's local in Caribou, Maine. The dispute concerned the group's negotiated 42-hour work week, and the Town's practice of only paying 40-hours of vacation time per week accrued. Essentially, the arbitrator agreed with the Union's argument that the Town was short-changing NEPBA's members by the way they were calculating the vacation accruals. The arbitrator also ruled that this practice was a "continuing violation," meaning that each week the town short changed an officer, it committed a new contract violation. According, all members were ordered to be made whole back to the date of the grievance.

The decision is attached here.

Nolan | Perroni. PC and NEPBA win significant case v. Governor of New Hampshire

NP partner Peter Perroni and the NEPBA recently secured a very important labor victory against the Governor of New Hampshire, who had refused to present a favorable contract arbitration award (fact finding - similar to JLMC process in MA) to the Governor's Council for approval. After a full hearing before the NH Public Employee Relations Board, a hearing officer found that the State acted in bad faith when it failed to present the award, and when it dealt directly with employees in an attempt to circumvent the union.

This decision is a positive result for the NEPBA's state groups, and also will greatly benefit statewide bargaining units across NH. The ruling is important as it clarifies that the governor cannot simply refuse to present the Award to the Governor's Council in an attempt to stop the contract process.

Click here to read the decision. It has a good explanation of what constitutes direct dealing by an employer, an area of law that is similar in most states.

Nolan | Perroni and NEPBA win case vindicating Union President - and protecting important union rights

The NEPBA and Nolan | Perroni PC recently won an arbitration case involving an NEPBA Board Member and Local 500 president. The Middlesex Sheriff's Office had imposed discipline on the union president after he had a discussion with a supervisor involving the assignment of overtime. When the MSO supervisor questioned the union president, the president - standing strong for his members - replied that he did have a problem with the way that overtime was being distributed because that particular supervisor was "a liar, a thief, and took money from union member's pockets."

When the MSO disciplined the president for the comments, the Union took the case to arbitration and we secured a very favorable award. In essence, the Arbitrator ruled that the President's speech, while he was acting in his representational capacity, was protected. The arbitrator ruled that was no just cause for discipline because the president was raising a legitimate issue of concern to his members. The full explanation can be found in the attached decision.

Click here for the ruling.