EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Merrimack Valley
Big time Boston law firm hired to defend Lawrence mayor against lawsuit
DPW head seeks unspecified damages
Published: December 29, 2008
LAWRENCE — Mayor Michael Sullivan has spent $25,000 in taxpayer money to retain a major Boston law firm to defend himself and his brother in a civil rights lawsuit filed earlier this year by Public Works Director Frank McCann.
McCann is suing Michael and Kevin Sullivan, also a former city mayor, claiming unspecified damages from what he alleges was a wrongful suspension from his job in 2007. In the suit, he alleges the brothers engaged in intentional activities to "intimidate, defame and harass him."
While his lawsuit and his attorney have not said how much they are seeking, city officials believe McCann is suing for at least $1 million. McCann remains on the job, and this year will earn $103,810.
The city has several attorneys on the payroll already, and $866,344 budgeted this year for salaries, a variety of legal expenses and judgment payouts.
But Michael Sullivan said with taxpayer money at stake, he needed to hire the best possible to defend the city's interests. It's unclear how much it will cost to defend the case, but Sullivan said the $25,000 retainer will be applied to final bill.
"This case is extremely important, not only in Lawrence, but statewide," Sullivan said. "We wanted the best to set the story straight. I believe this case will be known statewide. ... The treasury of this city is not going to be in jeopardy."
The first order of business will be to ask a judge to throw McCann's case out, Sullivan said.
"We believe the lawsuit is lacking in merit both factually and legally, and we intend to file a motion to dismiss it in its entirety," echoed attorney Michael Gardener of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, of 1 Financial Center, Boston.
In November, Gardener was one of 46 of his firm's attorneys named a 2008 Massachusetts Super Lawyer by Boston Magazine. Mintz senior partner Robert Popeo, whom Sullivan said will also play a role in the defense, was named one of the top 100 lawyers in New England.
McCann's lawyer, Scott Gleason of Haverhill, said he isn't surprised by the city's defense strategy.
"It's really the same thing we've been hearing for the past two years," he said. "We have a different opinion. Frank McCann has been looking for an opportunity to be heard. He is not a dollar chaser. He is looking for some justice."
In Lawrence, before retaining outside counsel, the mayor is supposed to confer with "our legal department and set forth a course of action to defend the city," City Council President Patrick Blanchette said.
"I don't know if this has taken place yet, but it should have," said Blanchette, who when questioned last week, was unaware that the city had retained the Boston law firm on Dec. 9 to handle McCann's case. "He does have the right to representation, and the city has used specialized attorneys in the past."
Mark Andrews, budget and finance director, said this year alone the city has tapped outside counsel in several specialized areas, including environmental law, workers' compensation and election law.
City Attorney Charles Boddy did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article.
However, Blanchette said city attorneys work "very hard morning, noon and night to protect our city, and often times cases come up that require the assistance of an outside firm.
"It's hard to be an expert on every aspect of law, and often times that is what our in-house counsel is asked to do," he said.
In early 2007, Michael Sullivan placed McCann on a two-week unpaid suspension for what he said were a number of policy violations. Sullivan said McCann had no authority to fire four parking garage employees over allegations of illegal gambling and theft.
And Sullivan said McCann was responsible for cost overruns at the DPW when a company installed a $480,000 fiber-optic telecommunications system at several Water Department facilities.
An April 2007 report by the state inspector general determined that McCann acted without authorization, spending more than authorized on a road improvement project. But the report did not say McCann did anything illegal.
Sullivan also accused McCann of spending $800,000 on unauthorized repairs to Blanchette's street and said McCann was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, Andrea Traficanti.
Traficanti, who is now McCann's wife, has collected more than $72,000 in workers' compensation pay in nearly two years. She has not worked since January 2007, when she left her job, citing stress and a hostile work environment.
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