The Town Council will discuss in closed session Monday whether to appeal a judge’s decision to award $41,905 in legal fees to the firefighters union, the council president told residents in an email Thursday.
“We are deeply disappointed with this decision,” Council President Suzanne McGee Cienki said in the email to residents.
The East Greenwich Firefighters Association, Local 3328, IAFF, AFL-CIO, successfully sued the town to reinstate fired firefighter James Perry in November. In ruling in the union’s favor, Superior Court Judge Susan E. McGuirl castigated the Town Council for willful and repeated violations of the state’s Open Meetings Act and the Town Charter in the hiring of Town Manager Gayle Corrigan. The judge blasted East Greenwich leaders for misleading their constituents by failing to properly post meetings, and declared Corrigan’s appointment “null and void” due to the violations.
State law dictates that the court “shall” award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a party that prosecutes an Open Meetings Act violations.