Framingham Lawsuit to Take Place in June

The lawsuit against the former Town Manager of Framingham, Julian Suso, is set to take place in June. The jury will make the decision as to whether or not Suso was in violation of the whistleblower statue after firing Sandra Charton, the Human Resources Director, at some point in 2009.

The Superior Court judge in Norfolk decided on a date for the trial, which will be held on June 6^th. The date was set after settlement discussion were not successful, as an agreement could not be reached between the two parties. Leonard Kesten, an attorney who will be representing Suso, has made it clear that Suso would like the trial to take place right away and does not wish to wait for the trial. Kesten said, “He’s anxious to clear his name.” He also said, “We’d prefer a trial tomorrow.”

Charton has made arguments, stating the Suso fired her because she spoke up against him and his plans to lay off specific workers. Charton said Suso made plans to lay off workers who were protected by the anti-discrimination law. The dispute was supposed to go to trial on September 12^th, however, both sides wanted a delay because they were trying to settle with one another and come up with an agreement outside of a court room.

Charton, who will be represented by her attorney, Timothy Burke, would like to receive triple back pay, benefits, attorney’s fees, and money from damages. In the meantime, she has dropped a claim of emotional distress against Suso sometime after the judge said Charton could only use the defamation claim against Suso for herself, not for any other workers. As of right now, there is an ongoing pending complain that Charton made against Suso with the Commission against Discrimination. The commission will be preparing a public hearing as a means of making a decision on the complaint.

In the meantime, the town has argued that Suso did not discriminate against Charton and only fired her for unprofessional conduct, along with insubordination. The town believes Suso was justified in his actions. The town attorney, Adam Simms, believes it is suspicious that Charton advised Suso to make cuts and reduce the hours of a Hispanic female employee but Suso reduced the hours of Charton’s administrative aide instead, as the administrative aide was not in a protected class and the Hispanic female employee was. Charton wrote an e-mail message to Suso saying, “I deeply regret your decision.”

The town also says that Suso put Charton on administrative leave, in which she was paid; after he found out she went behind his back to help her administrative aide receive more hours within the Department of Public Works. And, after a hearing took place on the situation, Suso fired her.