COVID Lawsuit Against Mayor Dickinson
Below is a link to the original March 6 story in the Record Journal that broke the news that a longtime town employee had filed a lawsuit against Mayor Dickinson for allegedly retaliating against her after she complained to the state human rights commission over work requirements related to COVID-19.
Record Journal article link (March 6, 2021)
I believe the reality of the situation was summed up well by fellow Wallingford resident, Ray Palermo, in his recent article LTE, copied below. Simply put, Dickinson’s behavior throughout this story is inexcusable, and now our town will be footing the bill as a result.
Record Journal LTE (March 31, 2021)
Town is ill served
Editor:
Consider a hypothetical situation: Your neighbor has worked 19 years as a mid-level employee of a $172 million business. When the pandemic hits, she’s expecting the company to adapt to reality and impose work from home options. But the CEO orders all employees to physically work in the office. Given she’s over 60, survived cancer and has a compromised immune system due in part to a lung disease, she requests an accommodation that most every other company is providing.
HR denies it, telling your neighbor to report to work or forfeit her pay, and she reports it to the State. Then the CEO of the company calls her into his office and tells her: No dice. And any changes to her hours will require his personal approval.
She files a lawsuit against the company, and the shareholders pay up.
Now consider that this hypothetical actually happened (Record-Journal March 26, 2021), but with some troubling role changes. Your neighbor works not for a callous corporation, but for the Town of Wallingford, and the intransigent CEO is the mayor. But here’s the kicker — the ill-served shareholders footing the bill are you, the taxpayers through direct payment, insurance, and insurance premium.
Wallingford is ill served by a mayor who doesn’t understand that part of his job is safeguarding the health of his own Town employees, and the health and financial well-being of all residents.
— Ray Palermo, Wallingford
