Former MA Chief Files Federal Lawsuit over Firing

ROCKPORT, MA— Former Fire Chief James Doyle has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the town of Rockport in federal court.

In the complaint, Doyle's attorney characterizes the termination hearing at which the chief was fired as "ridiculing, disparaging and defamatory," and which transpired just 10 months before he retired from the department.

Doyle was fired by the Board of Selectmen in February for allegedly violating a "last chance" agreement he made with the town. The agreement was made after a March 2019 incident where Doyle engaged in a verbal altercation with one of his subordinates while both were off the clock. It stated that if the selectmen terminated Doyle for another fireable offense, he would be unable to challenge the ruling.

RELATED:

In November 2020, Doyle received a termination letter from Town Administrator Mitch Vieira citing "neglect of duty." The biggest accusation — Doyle allegedly failed to log financial transactions for paid fire inspections. All unlogged money was accounted for, however, according to an audit conducted that October.

The 59-page complaint, which was filed by Doyle's attorney Liam O'Connell (his son-in-law) on June 17, addresses this issue and a number of other complaints they make against town officials.

"Asst. Police Chief (Mark) Schmink illegally changed Chief Doyle's processes and procedures, which involved more and more computer-generated work that Chief Doyle had not previously done," reads the complaint. "The town never provided Chief Doyle with any training on the use of computers or computer programming."

Despite this claim, the complaint alleges Doyle had indeed produced the documents required for the financial audit — "three manila folders with inspection records and Excel spreadsheets." This assertion was made by Doyle at his termination hearing. Selectman Paul Murphy asked why Doyle didn't bring the documents to the hearing to prove his innocence. O'Connell said the documents were "in (Doyle's) office...as they have been for 22 years" but Doyle could not retrieve them as he was "really beaten down by Mr. Schmink" at the time, who was also serving as the emergency service director.

The suit names the selectmen, Vieira, police Chief John Horvath and Schmink as defendants. It alleges the selectmen fostered a political environment where Vieira, Horvath and Schmink, "were illegally allowed to consolidate power whilst receiving large salaries and stipends, for positions the Board of Selectmen never had the authority to create and that were made in violation of Massachusetts law."

On Monday, Selectmen Chairwoman Ruth George released a statement that said the town had not been served with the lawsuit yet, but still addressed aspects of the complaint.

"Based on a quick review of the document, it appears that this is a rehash of various claims that have been raised previously," the statement reads. "For instance, this new court complaint raises allegations of Open Meeting Law and public records law violations, which have already been rejected by the state Supervisor of Records or which were dismissed by the Attorney General's office due to attorney O'Connell's failure to pursue them. Moreover, many of the alleged 'facts' in this complaint duplicate what is already pending in state court in the ten taxpayer lawsuit previously filed by attorney O'Connell, and for which the town's motion to dismiss remains pending. We remain confident in continuing to defend against these accusations, many of which are inaccurate, in court."

O'Connell's law firm released a statement in response on Tuesday.

" Chief Doyle's complaint is anything but a rehash of the MacLeod, et al. v. Rockport case," it reads in part, "The MacLeod lawsuit was filed before Chief Doyle was terminated. Chief Doyle's suit has 19 counts for relief. … Not one of these prayers for relief pertains to Public Records Law or Open Meeting Law violations...Chairperson George's statement deceptively infers that the town's violations of the Massachusetts Public Records and Open Meeting Laws have been 'rejected' or closed-out by the state agencies that have administrative oversight. … None of the complaints submitted for violations of public records or Open Meeting laws were ever ruled on by any state agency."

New allegations

The federal complaint details new allegations that were made against Doyle by a woman named Edith Silva, who is also listed as a defendant. It alleges town officials used Silva's complaints as a means to get rid of Doyle.

In the fall and winter of 2020, Silva reportedly made claims that Doyle was harassing her. Silva allegedly spoke with Horvath about her concerns with Doyle via email, phone and face-to-face conversations that fall, according to the complaint. It went on to say that Horvath recommended Silva file a complaint with the Essex District Attorney's office, which she did on Oct. 6.

On Oct. 7, the complaint notes that Doyle was questioned by state police regarding Silva's allegations at the Rockport Community House. O'Connell told the Times that Horvath received a letter from the state police officers that same day. The letter, according to the complaint, summarized the interview and said the state troopers felt there was nothing criminal or improper about Doyle's actions in regard to Silva.

Doyle, however, participated in the financial audit on the same day as that interview. He "underperformed" due to stress, the complaint alleges.

On Oct. 23, Vieira allegedly told Doyle that state police had cleared him of Silva's accusations but also said he wasn't satisfied that the matter was closed, and offered no further explanation, the complaint alleges.

Silva still went ahead and filed a harassment prevention order in Gloucester District Court on Dec. 10 — the report claims she contacted Horvath again about a week after. The complaint mentions she allegedly didn't include any of the informal conversations she had with Horvath on her affidavit, although the judge questioned her about them during the Dec. 22 hearing. Silva's application was ultimately denied.

Doyle is suing Silva for malicious prosecution, abuse of process and defamation. Even though Silva testified in court that she contacted state police about her allegations, the lawsuit argues that Horvath also had a hand in organizing the investigation against Doyle. O'Connell told the Times that "Horvath also reached out" to the state police regarding the matter.

"Police Chief Horvath had no reason to believe probable cause of a crime existed," reads the complaint. "Nevertheless, he chose to use his authority to prompt an investigation by the Massachusetts State Police, on the same day that his direct supervisor (Vieira) and his direct report (Schmink) scheduled the aforementioned audit/review of Chief Doyle's fire inspector records. … These actions were intentional and done to distress Chief Doyle so he would underperform during the audit, giving (Vieira) and (Schmink) purported cause to terminate Chief Doyle."

The lawsuit also alleges that town officials' treatment of Doyle last fall was "intentionally designed to cause Chief Doyle distress, so that he would retire."

Additionally, a count of unlawful detention, claims Horvath had state police hold Doyle against his will during the Oct. 7 interview. It's unclear if Doyle had asked to leave the interview and was denied or if he was explicitly forced to stay and answer questions against his will. O'Connell said the atmosphere of the meeting put Doyle under the assumption that he could not leave.

After the firing

The suit also targets Schmink for defamation for an altercation that allegedly occurred a few days after Doyle was fired.

On Feb. 6, a group of residents held a public demonstration in support of Doyle at Five Corners. Sometime before the event, according to the complaint, Doyle ran into Schmink at "a local convenience store." The two allegedly "exchanged words." Sometime after the demonstration, state police officers, "the same MSP Troopers that investigated defendant Edith Silva's false allegations," visited Doyle at his home.

The complaint says Schmink and Horvath told the troopers that Doyle threatened Schmink with a gun when the two crossed paths outside the convenience store.

Schmink allegedly collected surveillance footage from the store prior to alerting the state police, according to the complaint. State police reviewed the tape and reportedly found no such threats being made.

"Schmink's statements were made with a reckless disregard for the truth," reads the complaint. "As a direct and proximate result of defendant's actions, Chief Doyle has suffered serious and substantial injury and loss, including loss of reputation, indignity, mental suffering and distress, inconvenience and expenditure of time in defending litigation, attorneys' fees and costs incurred, loss of money, and loss of his employment with the town of Rockport."

Schmink did not return a message seeking comment.

___

Visit the Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, Mass.) at www.gloucestertimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.