Something To See Here

On February 3, 2023, The Lawrence Eagle Tribune published an article, Salem town manager remains under investigation (See #receipts).  The article was written by Breanna Edelstein, who has been following this story since August of 2022.  

On August 11, 2022, Ms. Edelstein wrote County Attorney: Salem town manager named in new complaint (See #receipts).  On August 30, 2022, Edelstein wrote Salem town manager named in second complaint (See #receipts).  These two articles also appeared in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.

Salem Board of Selectmen Chairperson Cathy Stacey was quoted in the August 30, 2022 article.  “I am not aware that the board of selectmen have received any direct information from a county official regarding an investigation pertaining to the town manager.”  Stacey became the Salem Board of Selectmen Chairperson on August 29, 2022, when she, Selectman Jim Keller, and Selectmen Mike Lyons voted to remove Selectmen Bob Bryant as the Chairman, who the same Board voted to be the Chairman in March of 2022.

On January 20, 2023, RobbiLeaks published Nothing to See Here.  The Leak contained the actual complaint one of the complainants filed.  RobbiLeaks did not provide all of the #receipts, explaining the complaint was still being investigated by the Strafford County Attorney.  RobbiLeaks did, however, reveal the complaint filed was criminal, in fact, the allegation was that the Salem Town Manager Chris Dillon, lied under oath.  The crime is Perjury and it is a Class B Felony. (See RobbiLeaks – Nothing to See Here).

In Edelstein’s most recent article, it is revealed in October of 2022, Stacey was again contacted for an update by Edelstein.  On this date Stacey stated, “I am only aware of investigations at the county level noted in your news article and confirmed by County Attorney Velardi.  The investigation is ongoing and I am unaware of any selectmen nor staff being interviewed by investigators.”  (See #receipts).

It was also revealed, on that same day in October of 2022, County Attorney Velardi said, “the Board of Selectmen are now aware of this ongoing investigation and have indicated this office will receive full support with any requests made.”

“Houston, we have a problem.”  The problem is called DISPARATE TREATMENT.  On January 17, 2019, Deputy Chief of Police Rob Morin was placed on paid administrative leave when Town Manager Dillon became aware that the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office was conducting a criminal investigation on Morin.  

On February 15, 2019, Captain Mike Wagner and Sergeant Mike Verrocchi were also placed on paid administrative leave when Town Manager Dillon became aware the New Hampshire Attorney General had expanded their investigation to include Wagner and Verrocchi.  Then on March 11, 2019, the eve before the Town election, there was another media splash, the investigation had expanded to include Chief Paul Donovan, who had retired in December of 2018, but was on the ballot as a candidate for selectman.

There was no shortage of media attention when it came to Donovan, Morin, Wagner or Verrocchi.  Oddly, on the same day that Wagner and Verrocchi were placed on paid admin leave (2-15-19), the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office commenced an investigation on three other Salem Police Officers.  Those three officers were not placed on paid administrative leave, there was no media frenzy and one of those officers, Sergeant Bob Genest, inexplicably, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in July of 2019, despite the fact the NH AG did not close the investigation on Genest and the other two officers until December of 2019.

There was one common theme among the seven officers……..None of them, not one, was found to have committed any crime.  Yet, four of those officers, Donovan, Morin, Wagner, and Verrocchi had their names, reputations, and careers impacted.

Town Manager Chris Dillon has been under criminal investigation since August 2022, the Salem Board of Selectmen have not placed him on paid administrative leave, despite being made aware, by Strafford County Attorney Velardi, as early as October of 2022.

The disparate treatment does not end there.  In 2019, Town Manager Dillon administratively terminated two police officers, Basil Chingros (April 2019) and Steve DiChiara (December 2019).  Both officers were out of work due to duty related injuries, both had their initial claims denied by workman’s comp.  Before either of their appeals could be heard, both officers ran out of earned time, and requested to go to no-pay status.  Town Manager Dillon denied the request and HR Director Anne Fogarty concurred.  Town Manager Dillon decided to terminate both officers instead, leaving them with no pay nor health insurance coverage.

Both Chingros and DiChiara are now Accidental Disability Retirees, meaning they won their appeals and their injuries were not fabricated as both Dillon and Fogarty suggested when they asked the NH AG to investigate these two officers, as well as several other Accidental Disability Retirees for FRAUD.

Put on your life jackets because you are about to swim in the Irony.  HR Director Anne Fogarty has not been to work since the first week of July 2022.  That means Fogarty has been absent from work for 31 weeks.  Ms. Fogarty is a salaried employee, required to work 37.5 hours per week, which means she has been absent for 1,162.5 hours.

But wait, there’s more……Fogarty has not been administratively terminated, she also was not approved for no pay status.  Fogarty is still getting paid, and still has health insurance.  The Town of Salem has also been contracting with Municipal Resources Inc. for an Interim HR Director, at $90/hr ($3,375/wk) since December of 2022.

In disparate treatment lawsuits, the arguments are usually over how similarly situated the comparable employees were and whether the employer’s decision was made because of the employee’s protected characteristic or for other reasons.

RobbiLeaks suspects this is not over for the Town of Salem.  RobbiLeaks also suspects Cathy Stacey can’t be happy about the timing of the latest article, as she seeks re-election on March 14 to the Board of Selectman.  Should be tough sledding.