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
Winter is coming, and there will be snow and ice. In fact, if it’s anything like last year, there may be a lot of snow and ice. Injuries due to snow and ice may be cause for damages in a premises liability case. Premises liability in Massachusetts, however, describes many types of injuries and accidents, not just those caused by our weather. The term “premises
By Jim Russell | Special to The Republican The South Hadley Fire District 1 Prudential Committee has voted not to renew the employment contract of Chief Robert Authier, which expires on Dec. 31. The board has begun a search process to hire a new chief, meeting minutes also show. Contacted Tuesday, Authier said he has retained lawyer Andrew Gambaccini, of the Worcester firm Reardon, Joyce
Vigliotti Named A Massachusetts Super Lawyer and Gambaccini Again Named A Rising Star 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 2015. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the Super Lawyers’ research team to
By ERIC GOLDSCHEIDER | For the Gazette Worcester attorney Andrew Gambaccini in June 2014 wrote a letter to each of the three commissioners of the South Hadley Electric Light Department in which he detailed a pattern of workplace intimidation and violence lasting more than a decade. Gambaccini wrote on behalf of his client, SHELD electrician Robert Blasko Jr. who allegedly had been assaulted by Andrew
By Jim Russell | Special to The Republican SOUTH HADLEY — Workplace abuse spanning more than a decade and failures to address it are among claims at the heart of a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a municipal light department employee against the agency’s long-serving manager Wayne Doerpholz, engineer Andy Orr, the department itself and the board of commissioners. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District
By ERIC GOLDSCHEIDER For the Gazette A South Hadley Electric Light Department electrician is suing his employer for $750,000 under a federal whistleblower law, arguing that the municipal utility’s manager retaliated against him for going to police after another employee verbally and physically assaulted him in December 2013. The complaint, filed in federal court in Springfield by Robert Blasko Jr., also names the SHELD board
If you work in a company of 11 or more people, you are now entitled to paid sick leave. The law became effective on July 15, 2015, and it requires that you receive one hour of paid leave for every thirty hours worked. According to the statute, you may use this time for yourself, your spouse, child, parent or parent – in –law for issues
Losing a family member is painful, and when you lose a family member because of the action or inaction of another person, anger compounds the loss. Not only have you lost your loved one, you are facing a life without his or her companionship. In addition, there are probably very real monetary losses. Money will not mitigate the loss of your family member, but you
With over 110,000 auto crashes a year in the state of Massachusetts, it is a sad likelihood that you or a loved one could be severely injured in an auto accident at some point. This can be a very disturbing event, and potentially a very debilitating one. Both emotional and physical effects from an accident can significantly affect your daily life. You have prepared for
