Haverhill

Haverhill fire captain docked pay for taking time off to organize firefighter games; Says it's harassment by chief, deputy

By Shawn Regan
Staff Writer
Published: July 30, 2008

HAVERHILL — A firefighter with a pending lawsuit against the city and its fire chief said he is being harassed again — this time for taking time off from work to organize a competition that will bring tens of thousands of dollars in economic activity to Haverhill.

Capt. Paul Weinburgh said he has taken six "union time" days off this summer to raise money and recruit fire department teams from across the country for a series of firefighting games Aug. 23 and Aug. 24 at the Merrimack Valley Hospital campus. More than 300 firefighters from California, Texas, Florida, New Hampshire and at least a dozen other states have signed up and reserved more than 200 rooms at Comfort Suites and other local hotels, Weinburgh said.

There were no problems with the first three days Weinburgh took off earlier this summer to work on the competition, which is being sponsored by the hospital, the Haverhill firefighters union and The Eagle-Tribune.

But after he put in for a union day June 27, Weinburgh said he received a phone call from fire Chief Richard Borden's secretary informing him that it was not approved and that he would be marked "absent without leave" and docked pay if he did not report for work, which he did not.

Weinburgh said he received similar phone calls from Borden's secretary prior to taking off July 10 and Monday to work on the event.

The union's contract says firefighters may take an "indefinite" amount of work leave for "union business," union officials said. The contract does not give a definition of union business.

Deputy fire Chief Lewis Poore Jr. sent another deputy late Monday afternoon to Weinburgh's home in Merrimac to serve him with a letter stating Weinburgh was considered "absent without leave" June 27 and July 10 and would be docked 20 hours pay, worth about $700, for not reporting to work on those days. Poore is in charge of the department this week because Borden is on vacation.

"The first thought my wife had when the official Fire Department vehicle pulled up was that I was killed in a fire," said Weinburgh, who was not at home when Deputy Chief William Laliberty arrived with the letter.

Mayor James Fiorentini said Weinburgh's request for union leave was rejected because Weinburgh refused to tell fire officials why he wanted the time off.

"All we ask is that they fill out a form and tell us why they want the time off," the mayor said. "Today is the first time I have heard he wanted the time to work on the firefighter challenge."

Weinburgh was sent the warning letter and docked pay because he failed to show for work without being granted leave, City Solicitor William Cox said.

"We can't have people deciding on their own that the city is wrong and not show up for work," Cox said. "He should have filed a union grievance and shown up for work."

Fiorentini said he totally supports the firefighter challenge and is willing to reconsider docking Weinburgh's pay now that he knows Weinburgh took the days off to plan the event.

"If he makes a union grievance and tells me in writing that he took the time to work on the challenge, I'll reconsider," the mayor said.

Weinburgh said he has never used union time until this year to work on the firefighter challenge.

"The chief and everyone in the Fire Department knows why I took the union days," Weinburgh said. "If (Borden or Poore) spun it to the mayor differently, I can't say."

Meanwhile, Weinburgh awaits a court date on his 3-year-old federal harassment lawsuit against Borden and Poore.

As a result of Weinburgh exposing the out-of-state residency in 2003 of a firefighter with whom he was competing for a promotion, the city discovered Borden also was living out of state. Borden, who was a deputy chief at the time, was then forced to move from New Hampshire to Massachusetts. Haverhill firefighters are required to live in Massachusetts, either in Haverhill or within 10 miles of the city.

Weinburgh filed his lawsuit under a law that is supposed to protect whistle-blowers from retaliation when they expose illegal or improper activity. The lawsuit — which also accuses Borden of slander, libel and violating Weinburgh's civil rights — seeks monetary damages and asks that Weinburgh be protected from further harassment. The lawsuit also charges Poore, who was acting chief at the time, with failing to act on Weinburgh's accusations.

The whistle-blower lawsuit is expected to go to trial this winter. Borden, Poore and several other city officials were deposed for the case earlier this year.

Weinburgh and union President Tyler Kimball said this is the first time they are aware of the city disciplining a firefighter for taking time off for union activities or sending a supervisor to a firefighter's home to deliver a disciplinary letter.

"There have been hundreds of union time hours taken in the last few years," Weinburgh said. "But now the mayor is going to come down on someone with a pending federal harassment lawsuit for organizing an event that's going to bring thousands of spectators to the city and thousands of dollars to the Haverhill economy?"

Poore said Weinburgh was warned and docked pay because he failed to show up for his shift even though his written requests for leave June 27 and July 10 were not approved by Borden, and that Weinburgh was warned ahead of time that the leave was not approved. Poore also said this was not the first time a firefighter has been warned about using union time without the chief's approval.

Kimball was recently sent a similar letter, Poore said, adding that it also is not unusual to send a supervisor to a firefighter's home to deliver a disciplinary letter.

Poore said there was no reason for Weinburgh's wife to believe Weinburgh was hurt or killed on the job because he was not working that day. Poore also said Weinburgh called in sick yesterday. Weinburgh said he was unable to sleep the previous night and sick with stress over being harassed by his bosses.

Asked whether he or the mayor ordered that Weinburgh be disciplined, Poore said he was in charge and that his signature is on the warning letter.

Kimball described the phone calls by Borden's secretary and the visit to Weinburgh's home Monday as "a clear case of harassment."

"I ran the firefighter challenge the last three times it was in Haverhill on my own," Kimball said. "This time I needed some help and Paul's been doing a great job. There were 3,000 or 4,000 spectators at the last one and this one is going to be by far the biggest and most successful ever.

"It's the only one in the Northeast," Kimball said of the competition. "Everything (Weinburgh) has done was with my approval and at my request, which is all that is required under our contract."

Borden is out of the area and could not be reached for this story.

The union has raised $22,000 so far in private donations to pay for next month's competition, Weinburgh said. Any leftover money will be shared between the union and Haverhill firefighting museum, he said.

Kimball and Fiorentini have been publicly feuding for several weeks over their stalled contract negotiations and figures released by the mayor showing firefighters used more sick time on average last year than any other city worker. The current contract expired more than two years ago, but remains in force until a new one is finalized.

Fiorentini said the action taken against Weinburgh had nothing to do with his dispute with the union.

"We treated him no differently than any other firefighter," the mayor said of Weinburgh.