Officials Quiet on Legal Cases

Town officials are quiet about the three legal issues facing the town, and the town’s attorney doesn’t seem to want to talk about any of them, and even though all three cases stem from the police department, there is little public talk about the cases.

Tuesday night the council met in executive session to discuss the cases with Town Manager David Cressman.

The first case is Racow vs. the Town of Winthrop, in which a jury awarded $2.3 million to Police Officer Judy Racow for gender discrimination and retaliation. So far it appears a payment has not been made and the award amount is accruing interest, according to attorney Beth Meyers, who represents Racow.

The second case involves former Winthrop police officer Ferruccio Romeo, who is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar. Romeo was terminated from the Winthrop Police Department for submitting a request to be paid for a special detail that he allegedly did not perform. The case went to arbitration where the arbitrator ruled that the town lacked just cause to terminate him and ordered his reinstatement with back pay.

The town file a complaint in Superior Court to vacate the arbitrator’s decision and on May 21, 2018 the Court concluded that the judgement vacating the arbitrator’s award is vacated and a new judgement shall be entered affirming the arbitrator’s award.

The third case involves Sgt. Nancy Dalrymple, who in 1995 filed a gender discrimination and retaliation case against the town with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). She was the only woman on the force at the time that she was hired in 1982. A recent appeal involving this case was thrown out of Appeals Court, according to Cressman.

The town is being represented by attorney Howard Greenspan of Lynnfield in these legal cases. He did not attend Tuesday night’s Executive Session Council meeting.