PHILLIPSTON — Controversy continues to swirl around the Phillipston Fire Department in the wake of the resignations of at least five employees of the department. The letters of resignation were tendered after a formal complaint was filed against Capt. John Seamon, Jr., accusing him of making inappropriate comments about a new female recruit.
The town’s selectboard held a disciplinary hearing early last month.
At their most recent meeting, selectmen released a statement which read: ‘The Selectboard Office received a complaint from one individual regarding an incident with another individual in the Fire Department. They were the only two individuals involved in the complaint. There were no other witnesses to the alleged incident. The complaint was investigated in accordance with Town policy. The parties were offered the opportunity to meet individually and confidentially with the Selectboard in Executive Session. The complainant declined the offer. The Selectboard reviewed the matter in Executive Session and took what it deemed appropriate action. The matter is now closed.”
Asked in an earlier interview what action was taken by the board, Phillipston Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Flynn said he was unable to comment because the issue constituted a personnel issue.
In addition to inappropriate comments, Seamon was also accused of discrimination in one letter of resignation, but no formal complaint has been filed.
Those who left the department included Amanda Griffith, Deputy Fire Chief Larry Bankowski, Lieutenant Tyler Mason, firefighter/EMT Anthony Jones, and Administrative Assistant Kristen Stanley. The new hire, a firefighter/EMT, has also ended her employment with the department.
Flynn also informed the board at its last meeting that a forensic examination of two computers at the Fire Department had to be undertaken. That work, he said, was due to get under way as early as last Friday afternoon.
“We have not been able to access one of the computers at all,” Flynn told the ADN, “and the other one appears to have no files on it, which is odd because it’s a computer that would have been in use all the time. After talking with our attorney and our insurance company, they recommended the only way to determine what’s wrong is to have a forensic expert examine the computers. So, that’s what we’re doing.”
Asked if the inaccessible and missing files were crucial to the operation of the department, Flynn said, “Yes, they are because those are the computers that we use for running the ambulance service in the Fire Department. And they have the software on them that is used for filing reports with state Fire Marshal’s Office, filing with the hospitals, filing with the insurers. They have the billing software on them, as well as all the records.”
Flynn said hospitals and insurance carriers have been notified that the town may be behind in providing specific kinds of documentation and informed as to the cause of the delays.
While stating he isn’t accusing anyone of wrongdoing, Flynn did note that the problems with the Fire Department computers began about the same time as the rash of resignations.
It should be noted that any number of people in the department would have access to the computers in question.
In addition, at least one resident at the board meeting expressed concern over the appointment of Capt. Seamon’s father, Jack, to the Fire Department.
Ann Jones said the appointment flies in the face of a town policy, enacted in November, which states individuals from the same family can’t be named to a “position of unequal authority” within the same department. The policy states a department employee cannot be in a position to “influence the hiring, promotion, transfer, performance appraisal… schedule… or compensation” of a family member.
Jones asserted Capt. Seamon could find himself in such a position, but Flynn countered that such decisions could be made solely by acting Fire Chief John Duguay or his successor.