Fired Worker Suing City: “I’m a Scapegoat”
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A former Providence city employee who claims he was wrongfully terminated is suing the city for his job back, GoLocalProv has learned.
Karl Brown, who until this month was the director of the Selim Madelin Rogers Recreation Center on Camden Avenue, says he is being made the scapegoat for an incident that involved more than a dozen local high school students getting stranded on a trip to New Hampshire this fall. Brown had been suspended since October until the city chose to terminate him at the beginning of the month.
“We believe the city didn’t have the grounds to terminate him and we plan to take legal action,” Brown’s lawyer Patricia Andrews told GoLocalProv. “He is being made the scapegoat here and we have made it clear that they didn’t have the right to terminate him.”
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The incident, which was never made public, involved about 15 students who went on a field trip to New Hampshire in October using a city van. While Brown did not attend the trip, the students were participants at his recreation center and he claims parents that allowed their children to attend assumed he had signed off on the tip.
During the trip, the city-owned van broke down and was in need of a spare tire. But the van, according to Brown, was not equipped with the spare tire and students were let stranded for an unknown period of time.
Brown, who had been with the city for over ten years, says he became aware of the situation on a Sunday afternoon as he watched a football game on television. He says his job was not to inspect the vehicles and claims he didn’t have the authority to sign off on a city vehicle leaving the city. That responsibility belonged to his boss, Beth Charlebois, the Director of Neighborhood Parks Services.
But following the incident, Brown and his lawyer claim blame was cast upon him and no one else, which lead to his suspension and ultimately, his firing.
“I was fired for watching a football game,” Brown said.
City spokesman David Ortiz said that after city has looked into the situation, Brown was fired based on his negligence and the fact that he put children in harm’s way. Because of the lawsuit being filed by Brown, Ortiz said he couldn’t comment further.
Councilman: I’m Looking into What Happened
The suggestion that he put children in harm’s way is another issue Brown refutes. The former rec director said he was aware of the trip, but he thought two off duty police officers were joining the group in New Hampshire and that all of the students’ parents had signed permission slips for the trip. But Brown claims that some of the students may have not had authorization, which led parents to call the city to complain about their stranded children.
At least one Councilman says more questions need to be answered about what happened during the trip and why Brown was the only employee punished. Michael Correia, who represents Ward 6, said he is looking into why a city van was allowed to leave city limits without proper authorization from the city. He said he is also aware of the potential that some students may have not had permission slips and plans to find out how that happened.
“I have asked the city a few questions and I’m waiting to hear back,” Correia told GoLocalProv. “If what I’m hearing from Mr. Karl Brown is accurate, I’d like to know how a city vehicle was able to go to New Hampshire without someone signing off on that. I campaigned against city vehicles being allowed to leave city limits.”
As of Wednesday morning, Correia had not received a response from the city.
They Were Looking to Get Rid of One of Us
But Andrews claims the city had no right to fire her client. She said that ultimately, the entire incident was “much ado about nothing” because no students were hurt and everyone got home safe. She said she doesn’t know why the city would try to make an example out of him.
Andrews said she is still trying to figure out how a longtime city employee with no disciplinary record could have gotten such a harsh punishment
Brown claims the city, concerned over recent media reports of city and state employees slacking on the job, had been looking for any reason to terminate someone.
“We had a director’s meeting and they basically gave us a first and last warning,” Brown said. “They basically said we’re going to give you the rope to hang yourself. They were looking to do anything to get rid of one of us.”
And Brown maintains he simply wasn’t allowed to sign off on out-of-state trips.
“The parents thought I signed off on the trip, but I don’t have the authority to let a city van leave city limits,” Brown said. “Only the department head can authorize that. But they blamed me.”
He continued: “I’m just the scapegoat right now.”
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