By Jaime Rebhan | Wareham Week

Nearly a month since the town was notified of damages in excess of $230,000 owed to Wareham Police Lieutenant Donald Bliss for his wrongful termination, Bliss has still not received the money. The delay prompted Bliss’ lawyer, Andrew J. Gambaccini, to notify the town Tuesday that he would be seeking payment through Superior Court. The town has since said it is processing a $207,000 check, Gambaccini said.

In a Tuesday, July 5 letter from Gambaccini to Special Town Counsel Steven A. Torres, Gambaccini said the town has “proven itself unwilling to make payment” and will ask the court to seize and sell police cruisers and items from Town Administrator Mark Andrews’ office to cover the town’s obligation to Bliss – currently more than $233,000 and accruing roughly $530 each week it goes unpaid.

Gambaccini said he’d received word from the town after it received the letter that “a check is being processed in the amount of $207,636.97.” Bliss said he’d need to see a breakdown of the numbers “to determine whether the Town’s figures are appropriate,” since that amount is less than what Bliss is owed.

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By Jaime Rebhan | Wareham Week

By Jaime Rebhan | Wareham Week

The Town of Wareham will not appeal the state Civil Service Commission’s decision regarding the firing of Lieutenant Donald Bliss, according to Bliss’ lawyer, Andrew Gambaccini.

“I have been advised by counsel for the town that there will be no appeal of the Commission’s decision,” Gambaccini wrote in an e-mail.

More than two years after he was fired from his position with the Wareham Police Department for alleged violations of state ethics laws, the Civil Service Commission determined that Bliss, a 24-year veteran of the force, was wrongfully discharged.

Bliss will return to his post and is due more than $200,000 in back pay and interest.

“I will be working with the Town and its counsel to schedule [a return] as quickly as can be accomplished,” Gambaccini said, adding that Bliss must complete CPR and first aid training and obtain a firearms qualification certification before returning to work, as required by state law whenever an officer has been out of work for a certain period of time.

Bliss will also have to attend departmental in-service training, successfully complete all state-required in-service legal updates that were missed during the period he was not working, and complete any other training required by the Wareham Police Department’s policy, Gambaccini said.

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By Frank Mulligan | Gatehouse News Service

WAREHAM — The Civil Service Commission issued a unanimous decision Thursday to return Donald Bliss to his position as a Wareham Police lieutenant with an award of an estimated $200,000-plus in back pay and benefits lost since he was fired from the post in February 2009.

His attorney, Andrew J. Gambaccini, stated in a press release, “At this stage, the situation for Lt. Bliss is being evaluated in two ways. Looking back, Lt. Bliss, along with his counsel and his family, will be reviewing the decision in greater detail and will be considering his legal options with respect to the enduring nightmare of the past two years and those personally responsible for this travesty.

“At the same time, looking forward, Lt. Bliss is anxious to return to work and to do the great work that he has been known for in advancing the interests of the town of Wareham and its police department. On his return, part of the job of Lt. Bliss, as a leader in the department, will be to make sure that he and others in the department always are doing the job that needs to be done to protect and to serve the town of Wareham and its citizens.”

According to the commission ruling, the town did not have “just cause” to fire Bliss, and termed some of the town’s assertions bordering “on incredulous.”

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By Neal Simpson | The Patriot Ledger

By J.J. Huggins | Eagle Tribune

METHUEN — Police officers being sued for slander by one of their own have the First Amendment on their side, according to their attorney.

Sgt. Larry Phillips is suing the city, police Chief Joseph Solomon, Capt. Randy Haggar, Lt. Michael Pappalardo, Capt. Katherine Lavigne, Officer Joseph Aiello, Officer Ronald Valliere and the patrolmen’s union.

He alleges Solomon financed a blog that spread false information about Phillips, including accusations of alcoholism, sexual harassment, bullying, domestic abuse, assault on officers and violations of ethics laws.

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October 2010

Worcester law firm Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. announces that Attorney Andrew J. Gambaccini, an associate with the firm, again has been selected as  a Massachusetts Rising Star by Law and Politics Media, Inc.  The award follows a rigorous, multi-phased process of review and is limited to attorneys under the age of forty who have been members of the bar for less than ten years and who already have distinguished themselves  in the practice of law.  No more than 2.5% of the attorneys in the state are given this award, recognition for which is published annually in Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars Edition and in Boston magazine.  This represents the second time that Gambaccini has been selected as a Massachusetts Rising  Star.

By J.J. Huggins | Eagle Tribune

METHUEN — Joseph Solomon says he is ready and willing to return to work now that the state’s Civil Service Commission has ruled his firing as police chief was “without just cause.”

“I am anxious to return to work, to advance the interests of Methuen and its Police Department and to mend any fences that have been broken throughout this process,” Solomon said in a statement released by his attorney, Andrew Gambaccini.

But Mayor William Manzi and City Solicitor Peter McQuillan said the city will appeal to superior court within the 30-day deadline. McQuillan said the city will also seek to bar Solomon, 49, from returning to work until their case is decided.

“The evidence does not support the decision,” McQuillan said. “The termination should have been upheld.”

Manzi fired Solomon in May 2008, charging he verbally abused officers, misspent grant money and broke state law by using taxpayer money to buy marine equipment from his sister and brother-in-law.

But in a scathing, 125-page report issued yesterday, Civil Service Commissioner Paul Stein ruled the city failed to prove its case, and gave an Oct. 1 deadline to reach a settlement with Solomon or allow him to return to his job with back pay. Solomon was earning a $158,295 salary, but city councilors cut his pay by $25,610 shortly before he was put on paid leave in September 2007. Solomon sued and court records show the case is still pending in Lawrence Superior Court.

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By J.J. Huggins | The Eagle Tribune

METHUEN — A Superior Court judge has dismissed police Officer Shaun Cronin’s lawsuit against fired police Chief Joseph Solomon and retired Deputy Chief Joseph Alaimo.

Cronin, 45, sued his former bosses, saying they bad-mouthed him to potential employers after he resigned from the Police Department.

Judge John Lu dismissed the case Monday in Lawrence Superior Court.

“It’s wonderful to have this taken off the table so we can focus on more pressing matters for the chief,” said attorney Andrew Gambaccini, who represented Solomon and Alaimo. “As for the deputy, he can now enjoy his retirement.”

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October 2008

Reardon, Joyce & Akerson, P.C. announces that Worcester attorney, Andrew J. Gambaccini, an associate with the firm, has been selected as  a Massachusetts Rising Star by Law and Politics Media, Inc.  The award follows a rigorous, multi-phased process of review and is limited to attorneys under the age of forty who have been members of the bar for less than ten years and who already have distinguished themselves  in the practice of law.  No more than 2.5% of the attorneys in the state are given this award, recognition for which is published annually in Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars Edition and in Boston magazine.