Town rehires firefighter after FOI complaint is filed against the town

Also, the commission violated state law by failing to file with the town clerk’s office several months worth of meeting minutes until late last week, most of which contained information and discussion related to the man’s firing.

The Easton Fire Department has seven full-time members, and many volunteer firefighters who supplement the professional team, that are part of the Fairfield Fire Fighters Association. The association represents both Easton and town of Fairfield firefighters.

Before his termination in May, Michael Strehan, a Norwalk resident, had been training and serving as a probationary firefighter with the Easton Fire Department since last year.

During that time period, however, while in the line of duty the firefighter sustained two separate injuries, at two different time periods and to two different places on his body, which sidelined Strehan and delayed the progress of his training — the most recent of which was an injury he sustained sometime in February or early March this year.

But in the first week of May, Strehan received clearance from his doctor that he was fit to return to duty. He then passed that documentation along to the Fire Commission, according to Fairfield Fire Fighters Association (Local 1426) counsel Dan Hunsberger.

Hunsberger said that only a few days after the doctor’s note was filed with the town, the commission held a special meeting to discuss Strehan’s employment status, on May 8.

At that meeting, commissioners determined that the recently returned firefighter was “incapable of meeting the rigorous physical requirements of the job of a firefighter and that he is therefore, unfit for such employment,” according to the meeting’s minutes.

They then terminated his employment “effective immediately” by a unanimous vote.

After going into executive session, the commission hired Easton resident Mark Mirowski as “the new firefighter.” Mirowski has been filling in for Strehan while he was recovering from his injury.

“The union finds this absolutely reprehensible,” Hunsberger said of the commission letting Strehan go. “They fired an employee who was injured in the line of duty ... it is beyond words.”

Dan Chavenello, president of the Fairfield Fire Fighters Association, agreed.

“We feel he was basically terminated for no reason,” Chavenello said.

According to the minutes of the commission’s March 19 meeting, Chavenello asked Fire Commission Chairman George Beno if he “plans to keep Strehan after he is off disability. Chairman Beno responded yes.”

“In fact, he said to me, ‘We consider him [Strehan] to be a valuable employee of the commission,’” Chavenello said.

“But then they did the opposite,” he said.

 Beno did not return calls requesting comment for this article from The Courier.

Although the union did file a grievance with the town and the state board of workers’ compensation, Local 1426 also filed a complaint with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission arguing that the special meeting held to fire Strehan was not properly noticed and that commissioners did not follow proper procedure during the meeting.

Therefore, Hunsberger said, any action taken during the special meeting should be considered null and void, and then overturned.

Hunsburger said the agenda posted did not make it clear that the reason for the special meeting was to terminate Strehan’s employment.

Also, he said, during the meeting there was no discussion about members’ decision to let Strehan go — in executive or public session — before they voted to fire him.

“How do you terminate someone without discussing it,” Hunsberger said. “This led us to believe that they had to have discussed this outside the meeting room.”

Hunsburger, who attended the meeting along with Chavenello and others, said the commission also hired the new firefighter in executive session. All votes must be taken in public session according to the state FOI law.

In addition to questions about the legality of the May 8 meeting, several months of minutes from Fire Commission meetings— dating as far back as November of last year — had not been filed as required by state law in the Easton Town Clerk’s Office.

The commission held a special meeting last Wednesday morning to approve and then file them with the clerk’s office.

Town boards and commissions are required to file regular and special meeting minutes with their town clerk’s office within seven days (excluding weekends and holidays for special meetings). And the record of board/commission votes must be available within 48 hours of the meeting where that vote was held.

As part of the complaint process, the firefighters’ union and the town met before the state FOI Commission in Hartford Monday morning. Although the hearing was called to order, both parties were able to reach a settlement regarding the union’s grievance, which included the rehiring of Strehan.

He will return to work at the Easton Fire Department this Monday.

Hunsberger said the union was pleased with the result.

“It was an equitable resolution,” he said. “And everybody seems to be happy with it.”

First Selectman Thomas Herrmann, who, along with a legal counsel, represented the town before the FOI commission Monday, declined to comment on the town’s reasoning behind rehiring Strehan because it “is a personnel matter.

“The Fire Commission’s public records stand on their own,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Courier Tuesday.

But Chavenello said that not only had the commission failed to meet the law and make public several months of their meeting minutes, but also the documents were inaccurate or misleading in some cases.

“The arrogance that the commission showed is worrisome,” he said. ‘They seemed to think that they were beyond having to answer to anybody and could do as they pleased.”

Herrmann said as first selectman, he is “concerned if any town board or commission is not in full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act,” and that the town is taking measures to make sure board and commission members are up to speed on their public information requirements.

“The selectman’s office has offered seminars on FOIA compliance and will continue to offer such programs on a regular basis,” he wrote. “In addition, a comprehensive FOIA compliance memo is being distributed to all heads of the town’s boards and commissions. We are grateful to all those who donate their time and their talents to serve our community.”

Tom Hennick, a spokesman for the state FOI Commission, said that although the two parties were able to resolve the issue, the commission will still issue a report regarding the union’s complaint. The report should be available within the next several weeks.

Easton Fire Chief Doug von Holtz declined to comment on the specifics of Strehan's case, noting that it is the sole responsability of the Fire Commission to hire and terminate department employees.

He added, however, that when it comes to new department members, his role is to make them feel as comfortable and welcome as possible.

Strehan has declined to comment on his case.