Former Lynn employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit reaches trial

LYNN – Former Comptroller John Pace will go head-to-head with the city once more when a lawsuit he filed claiming wrongful termination goes to trial today.”We’re certainly doing pretrial motions (Monday),” said attorney Thomas Drechsler, from the Boston law firm Byrne and Drechsler, who is representing the city. “The question is if we’ll get a jury Monday.”Pace is claiming that he was fired by then-Chief Financial Officer Richard Fortucci in retaliation for testimony he gave in 2011 during a foiled attempt to unseat Fortucci.The year 2011 started with Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy’s effort to fire Fortucci on claims of professional misconduct. Pace gave testimony against his boss, and when he was later fired by Fortucci, he filed a lawsuit under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act.The act is designed to protect employees from reprisal as a result of coming forward with allegations or testifying against a superior. At the time, City Solicitor Michael Barry said he didn’t believe Pace’s allegations would hold up, because to fall under the Whistleblower Protection Act, one had to show a crime was committed, and Fortucci had committed no crime.”His claim is wrongful termination, that it was retaliatory,” Drechsler said. “Our defense is the city had non-retaliatory, legitimate reasons for his firing. Obviously we deny his allegations.”The city has stood firm on its claim that Pace was fired for allegedly inflating his pay over a period of six weeks that totaled more than $2,800.During Fortucci’s hearings, Pace was named acting CFO and given a boost in pay to reflect his status. However, when Fortucci was reinstated as CFO, Pace allegedly continued to pay himself at the increased pay for six subsequent weeks.In January of this year, attorney Richard Vitali, who initially represented the city, worked to settle the case through mediation, but a five-hour-long session proved to be what he called a warm-up for court. Kennedy has been subpoenaed to testify, but Drechsler said he is unsure when she will take the stand. A large criminal case also set to start in Salem Superior Court Monday may prohibit the Pace trial from impaneling a jury, he said.Kennedy is also listed on both the witness list for Pace, the plaintiff, and the city. Drechsler said if Pace’s lawyer, Harold Lichten, calls Kennedy first, she could take the stand as early as Tuesday. If a jury cannot be impaneled until Tuesday, Drechsler said testimony could be delayed even longer.”There are a couple of things you have to accomplish before you get to the testimony,” he said. “You have to have pretrial motions dealt with, impanel a jury and give opening statements, then it’s up to the plaintiff who is called first.”City Attorney James Lamanna said, considering the caliber of the attorneys, with Lichten and Drechsler squaring off over the case, “this should be quite a contest.”