Lawsuit revisits previous allegations made against town officials

Jun. 24—ROCKPORT — Many of the claims levied against the town in former fire Chief James Doyle's federal court complaint have been a matter of public record since the ongoing Rockport Fire Department controversy began last November.

Three counts — which claim violations of Doyle's First Amendment rights and civil rights, and retaliation — allege that Doyle was put on administrative leave due to his involvement with the Fire Department letter sent to the Board of Selectmen in November demanding the resignation of then-Emergency Service Director Mark Schmink and Assistant Fire Chief Steven Abell Jr.

The town has denied this. Although the administrative leave was enforced the day after the letter was sent, the town claims it was due to the result of an October audit that found Doyle allegedly failed to log financial transactions for paid fire inspections. Doyle's son-in-law and attorney, Liam O'Connell, claimed at Doyle's termination hearing in February that Doyle had all the necessary documents, but they didn't have them in hand at the time.

Two counts of wrongful termination in violation of public policy allege town officials retaliated against Doyle for not complying with their illegal orders. A charge of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, alleges Town Administrator Mitch Vieira illegally obtained the position of Public Safety Commissioner, in turn illegally appointing Schmink as Emergency Service Director.

Vieira was given the public safety role by selectmen, as written in his contract. Per the towns' bylaws, the board has the power to appoint "members of the town police department, fire engineers," and "director of emergency management."

A count of defamation, specifically targets Selectwoman Sarah Wilkinson for allegedly publishing "false statements...made maliciously, recklessly, and with ill will" during Doyle's termination hearing. At the hearing, Wilkinson detailed past complaints she allegedly fielded from residents regarding Doyle. These included "doing personal work on town time, using town vehicles for his own personal business, not following town policies while on town time, double-dipping in working his own personal business while being paid by the town, (and) mistreating those who report to him."

Wilkinson stated that the town dealt with each disciplinary case "appropriately and methodically," but the complaint claims "Wilkinson failed to put any of these alleged reports in (Doyle's) personnel file."

A count of breach of contract alleges Vieira and the selectmen illegally dismantled the town's Personnel Board. The board's meeting minutes show it was the board itself that created the human resources director position in 2015 so employees wouldn't have to discuss potentially personal issues during public meetings. The members voted to appoint Vieira, then the assistant town administrator, as HR director. He retained that role after becoming town administrator until last June when Rockport joined a regional agreement with Manchester and Hamilton for a shared HR representative.

Town Counsel Michelle Randazzo said during the selectmen's meeting on Feb. 16 that the Personnel Board had found itself less useful with the HR director position in place. Each member agreed to step down in June 2019 at the advice of Randazzo.

The lawsuit also alleges the "last chance" agreement Doyle signed with the town was unlawful and that the town illegally hired Horvath's wife, attorney Dinamary Horvath, to investigate the incident that led to the agreement. O'Connell has previously claimed the investigation was a conflict of interest, as the person involved in it was the wife of Doyle's supervisor's boss.

Claims of due process and civil rights violations allege that the selectmen conspired before the termination hearing, outside of a public meeting, to have Doyle fired. According to the complaint, the prepared statements given by selectmen during deliberation was proof of behind-the-scenes coordination. Town officials have not publicly commented on these allegations.

The lawsuit also claims that Vieira, Schmink and Wilkinson sought to ensure that then-Lt. Stephen Abell was appointed to the Board of Fire Engineers because they wanted him to become the town's first full-time fire chief.

Abell, now the assistant chief, sits on that board but the town hired former Assistant Chief Kirk Keating to be the new chief this past April. Selectmen and Vieira have also publicly said they have no plan or desire to turn the all-volunteer Rockport Fire Department to full-time.

The complaint further alleges that town officials began using encrypted email software around this time "for no justifiable reason" and the "defendants have refused to provide anymore information or copies of these encrypted emails but have confirmed that Chief Doyle's name does appear within the encrypted emails."

Vieira told the Times in January the town used Virtru, a email encryption software, to send "attorney-client privileged communications...internal personnel matters outside of the Fire Department...(and COVID-19) response strategies, including potentially specific COVID-19 cases and locations." He said at the time that only 33 emails were sent using the software and all were searchable by the town clerk.

Michael Cronin may be contacted at 978-675-2708, or mcronin@gloucestertimes.com.