On April 11, 2018, the Civil Rights Section and Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association will present a panel discussion on “Qualified Immunity on the Cutting Edge: Has the Doctrine Run Its Course?” RJA Attorney Andrew Gambaccini will be one of the panelists, speaking on the doctrine of qualified immunity from the defense perspective. Other panelists include Judge Timothy Hillman, United States District Court
The Worcester, Massachusetts law firm of Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. announces that two of its attorneys, John K. Vigliotti and Andrew J. Gambaccini, have been selected as Super Lawyers for 2017 by Super Lawyers Magazine. Vigliotti receives the award for the third time, one for each year he has been eligible. Prior to being named a Super Lawyer, Vigliotti was twice named a Rising
The Daily Hampshire Gazette recently published a story concerning “[a] $5.7 million lawsuit filed in federal court in Springfield [that] sheds new light on the inner workings of the now-defunct Amherst Drug Lab and alleges failings of numerous state offices, a local police department and an entire municipality, and how people consume drugs, which could cause accidents. ‘This is a case about government corruption,’ begins
Vigliotti Named A Super Lawyer For The Second Time And Gambaccini Named A Rising Star For The Eighth Time The Worcester, Massachusetts law firm of Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. announces that John K. Vigliotti, an associate with the firm, has been selected as a Super Lawyer for 2016. This is the second consecutive year that Vigliotti has received the award. Each year, no more
By Jim Russell | MassLive A federal judge this week recommended against a motion by the town’s former electric department manager, Wayne Doerpholz, to dismiss a $750,000 whistleblower lawsuit that alleges he permitted a hostile work environment. The lawsuit, filed by South Hadley Electric Light Department employee Robert Blasko, also named the SHELD board of commissioners and a company engineer, Andy Orr, as defendants. Orr
By Todd Feathers | Lowell Sun News DRACUT — Deputy Police Chief David Chartrand has been suspended for two weeks without pay, following a civil service inquiry into his handling of documents in a Dracut lieutenant’s personnel file. An attorney representing Chartrand said he will appeal the ruling, which was made by Town Manager Jim Duggan and based on a report by an independent hearing
By K.C. Myers | Cape Cod Times PROVINCETOWN — Getting rid of Police Chief Jeff Jaran could have occurred more quickly and cost the town nearly $163,000 less than it did, according to newly released minutes from closed-door selectmen meetings. In May 2015, selectmen agreed to pay Jaran $512,797 after an arbitration panel determined he should have been suspended without pay for a year rather
By Todd Feathers | Lowell Sun DRACUT — Town Manager Jim Duggan has scheduled a civil-service hearing Monday to determine whether Deputy Police Chief David Chartrand violated department policy and state law when he released documents regarding a Dracut police lieutenant to The Sun. Chartrand received a letter notifying him of the hearing on Wednesday and through a lawyer expressed his expectation that the hearing
By Jeanette DeForge | MassLive A Chicopee Police Department sergeant, once accused of sharing graphic photos of murder victim Amanda Plasse, has been reinstated by the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission after being demoted to patrolman for “untruthfulness” on a burglary case. Following an appeal hearing, the commission reversed the demotion of Police Sgt. Jeffery Godere made by Mayor Richard J. Kos. It however upheld a
By Jim Russell | Special to The Republican The South Hadley Fire District 1 Prudential Committee has notified Fire Chief Robert Authier they intend to keep him as chief, even though the board has not renewed his contract that expires on Dec. 30. Earlier this year, the three member panel had begun a search for a replacement chief. But in a letter to Authier, Prudential
