Lawyers for city, former comptroller to try mediation

LYNN – Lawyers for the city and former city comptroller John Pace will either resolve a three-year-old lawsuit in mediation today or conduct a warmup for a full-fledged trial next week.”The case is on for trial in the beginning of February but the lawyers decided we should try and work it out,” said city Attorney Richard Vitali. “Judges like it when you try mediation first.”Pace filed a lawsuit against the city in July 2011 that stemmed from an incident that began in January 2011 when Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy called for a public hearing that charged the city’s Chief Financial Officer, Richard Fortucci, with professional misconduct. During the hearing Pace gave testimony against Fortucci, who at the time was his boss. In his lawsuit he states that it was that act that resulted in his firing.Also during the hearings, Pace was appointed by Kennedy as temporary CFO for which he was paid accordingly. After Fortucci was cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated to the CFO position Pace, according to city solicitors Michael Barry and James Lamanna, automatically reverted back to the treasurer’s position but his pay did not. Pace, who was then in charge of payroll, continued to pay himself the CFO salary for about six weeks before Fortucci discovered the $2,839 discrepancy.Fortucci later fired Pace, who filed a lawsuit arguing that his termination was a direct result of his testifying against his boss.Vitali said Kennedy will attend the mediation, which is being conducted by JAMS, a mediation specialist, in Boston. He is happy with the choice because the company uses retired judges to hear the cases, he said.Vitali said it would be nice to have the issue resolved today but if it’s not, the work won’t go for naught.”It’s always nice to take a look and see what the strong points and what are the weak points of your case,” he said. “If nothing else this gives you a feel for how the trial will go.”Vitali said he has no feel going in for how the mediation will go. Stripped down of all external factors the case is fairly basic, he said. But Pace, Fortucci and Kennedy each have a lot of history in City Hall, distinct personalities and different approaches.”So it’s really not that simple,” he said.If the attempt at mediation fails, the case will go to trial Feb. 4, Kennedy said.