SALEM – The Gardner Lake Fire Company is suing the Town of Salem in order to recover what the department says is owed funds needed to keep its ambulance service running, the latest broadside in a battle between the town's first selectman and the volunteer fire department's top officer.
The suit, filed on March 31 in New London Superior Court, alleges the town failed to pay the volunteer fire department more than $28,000 in volunteer firefighter stipends during a five-month period ending in February.
The town has two volunteer fire departments, Gardner Lake and the Salem Volunteer Fire Company. Salem's two paid firefighters, who work Monday-Friday for the town, are each assigned to one of the two companies, but also volunteer with those agencies.
One of those paid firefighters/volunteers is Gardner Lake Chief James Savalle, who works for the town during the week and volunteers with the department on nights and weekends. He has frequently butted heads with First Selectman Kevin Lyden over the scope and limits of his off-time volunteering with the department.
The suit states that on May 20, Lyden informed Savalle he could no longer provide the same services to the volunteer department as he did for the town and "threatened to terminate his employment" if he failed to abide by the directive.
The lawsuit also alleges Lyden based his directive on a "new interpretation" of a wage and hour law and the "mistaken belief" that the fire company could be designated a public agency under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, which governs the payment of wages and overtime.
In a series of meetings last year aimed at addressing Savalle's status and other issues, the fire company suggested revising an emergency services agreement between the company and the town which would stop the practice of having the town pay volunteer firefighters' stipends directly and instead leave that to the company.
Before August, stipends for volunteers who covered an on-call shift on nights and weekends were paid by the town based on an hourly rate. Volunteers are also eligible for a $1,000 tax abatement or a $550 stipend under a point-earning system.
Based on the amended emergency services agreement proposal, the fire company directed its members in August to stop submitting time cards for stipends to the town. Instead, the fire company began invoicing the town for payment based on 1/12th of the annual amount appropriated by the town for stipends with the aim of using that money to pay its volunteers directly.
Under the proposal, which was never approved by the town, the stipend amount would be based on a flat-stipend-per-shift number.
Allowing the department to pay the stipends directly would avoid any possible FLSA violation and eliminate any "joint employer" issues, including that of having Savelle work as both a paid firefighter and volunteer for the same company, according to the department's New London-based law firm, Madsen, Prestly & Parenteau, LLC.
The suit alleges Lyden refused to discuss the proposed modifications and instead threatened to fire Savalle if he continued to volunteer with the department.
The suit states the town owes the department $28,990 in stipend funding from September through February.
"For the first time in our history, Gardner Lake's ability to provide emergency services is being compromised by Town of Salem's First Selectman Kevin Lyden, who has repeatedly declined to cooperate with Gardner Lake in addressing a minor FLSA wage issue that was resolved by appropriate actions taken by Gardner Lake in August of 2019," according to an April 7 statement by the Garner Lake Fire Company's Board of Directors.
The board alleges Lyden since August has "refused to pay funds allocated" for the operation of the fire department and is using a "minor FLSA wage issue as a pretext to take control of the volunteer company."
Lyden responded in an email to The Bulletin, saying the town made the needed changes in May 2019 to be in compliance with FLSA, and that was explained to both fire companies.
"The Town of Salem is in compliance with the 2003 agreement as well as the 2006 agreement with the Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Company." Lyden wrote. "The Town of Salem Fire Marshall and Deputy Fire Marshall are both Lifetime Members of the Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Company. They have also served as Chief and President of the Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Company. They have met with, and will continue to meet with representatives of Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Company and the Salem Volunteer Fire Company to best serve our fellow townspeople."
The board said the department has been forced to use funds initially set aside for a new ambulance to fund ongoing operations.
The suit also alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment and tortuous breach of contract. Some of the strongest language of the suit is included in that last count which alleges Lyden refused to pay the stipends as part of an ongoing effort by the first selectman to "weaken and destroy" the volunteer company consistent with his "malicious and evil desire to take over" the department.
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