By GREG HITCHCOCK
gregh@theballstonjournal.com
Former Town of Ballston bookkeeper Joann Bouchard has filed a lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully terminated from her position last November, a job she had held for the previous 13 years. A notice of claim was sent last week to both Ballston Supervisor Patti Southworth and the Ballston Town Council.
Bouchard is seeking monetary damages, back pay, front pay and possible reinstatement, according to Bouchard’s attorney Cheryl Sovern.
“She was unjustly terminated,” Sovern said, “when she provided information to a town councilman with the clear approval of the town board.”
The termination by the town supervisor stemmed from a series of November events between then-recently elected Councilman William Goslin and Bouchard.
Last year, the Ballston Journal reported Goslin arrived early to town hall on Tuesday Nov. 15 after requesting budget information from then-bookkeeper Bouchard and with the blessing of the town board. Bouchard proceeded to give him the requested information. The next day the supervisor fired her.
Sovern said according to the town code the supervisor does not have the authority to fire a non-civil service employee at will. Such an action is within the sole prerogative of the town board as a whole, the attorney said.
Southworth has said she has the right to terminate an employee within her department for just cause, but she has remained silent as to the reason for the Bouchard firing due to the nature of the case.
“It is a personnel issue and I am not making any comment at this time,” Southworth said.
The Ballston Journal contacted Councilman Goslin, but he declined to comment.
Section 28-39(B) of the town code sets out a series of disciplinary actions ranging from verbal warning to discharge. In the case of discharge, the code states “(a) department head shall recommend termination of an employee directly to the Town Board, in writing, specifying the cause for discharge.” After proper notification and an internal administrative hearing, “(f)inal action shall be taken by the Town Board subsequent to the internal administrative hearing.”
But section 28-39(A)(3) states, in part, “the sequence need not be followed if an infraction is sufficiently severe to merit immediate suspension or discharge.”
Southworth allegedly fired Bouchard after discovering the bookkeeper had downloaded information on the town’s finances to an external device for Goslin, rather than printing out a hard copy. The town board had authorized Goslin to receive the information.
Councilman Tim Szczepaniak said the town council granted Goslin access to financial records, but the town did not specify in which form they were to be delivered.
Szczepaniak said the supervisor stepped out of bounds by firing Bouchard without the town board’s consent. ”She illegally terminated her,” Szczepaniak said.
But according to the town’s official minutes from a board meeting held Dec. 6, Goslin said Bouchard also had “offered him use of the reporting manual.” That manual contains, among other things, confidential passwords.
Section 35-2(A) of the town code classifies “computer access codes” as “inaccessible to the public.” Goslin had not been sworn in as a councilman at the time of the transaction.
At least one local citizen has alleged in an open letter to the Journal that Southworth was advised by the New York State Police and an unnamed attorney that Bouchard’s actions constituted a security breach. According to State Police officials in Loudonville there is no record of any investigation by the State Police regarding this issue.
Meanwhile, Bouchard remains at home collecting unemployment.
“If it was true that my client allegedly did anything wrong, the town would have tried to prevent her from receiving these benefits,” Sovern said.
The Town Council appointed an interim bookkeeper in the Supervisor’s Office during a town meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31. The position has now been contracted by the town to provide critical services for one year beginning Feb. 6.
UPDATE ON FEB. 6, 2012: In last week’s edition of The Ballston Journal, Feb. 2, our story incorrectly stated a wrongful termination lawsuit had been filed by former town bookkeeper Joann Bouchard. In fact, to date only a notice of claim, which precedes a lawsuit, has been filed. Also, the final quote from attorney Cheryl Sovern at the end of the article should have read “If it was true that my client allegedly did anything wrong, then why didn’t the Town seek to prevent her from receiving these benefits?“ We regret the errors.
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CORRECTION, FEB. 6, 2012: In last week’s edition of The Ballston Journal, Feb. 2, our story incorrectly stated a wrongful termination lawsuit had been filed by former town bookkeeper Joann Bouchard. In fact, to date only a notice of claim, which precedes a lawsuit, has been filed. Also, the final quote from attorney Cheryl Sovern at the end of the article should have read “If it was true that my client allegedly did anything wrong, then why didn’t the Town seek to prevent her from receiving these benefits?“ We regret the errors.