Former Lynn comptroller Pace set to get $1.95M settlement

LYNN – A little more than a month after he won a six-figure lawsuit against the city, former Comptroller John Pace is tentatively slated to receive a $1.95 million settlement that includes a $300,000 payment by month’s end.The deal needs City Council approval and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy’s signature, with councilors scheduled next Tuesday to vote to “authorize the mayor to enter into an agreement for judgment” with Pace.Fired in 2011 by former Chief Financial Officer Richard Fortucci for overpaying himself while temporarily holding Fortucci’s job, Pace filed suit against the city, claiming testimony he gave during a council hearing on Fortucci cost Pace his job.A jury awarded Pace $962,000 in wage, pension and emotional distress compensation on May 29. Pace’s attorney, Harold Lichten of Boston, quickly indicated he would file court paperwork seeking to triple that award.City Assistant Solicitor Richard Vitali said Lichten subsequently reached out to city lawyers for a meeting, and both sides sat down before retired Superior Court Justice Elizabeth Butler.”The mediation was very productive – we were able to achieve a resolution. A part of the settlement will have a release of all claims that brings final closure to this – that’s important to the city,” Vitali said.Lichten’s push to triple damages could have resulted in a $4 million payout to Pace. In awarding money to Pace, jurors agreed the city violated a law called the Whistleblowers Protection Act. Lichten pointed to that law in arguing Pace’s jury award should be tripled.”Because the Defendant’s violation of the Whistleblower Act was undertaken with actual malice, and it demonstrated a spiteful, malignant purpose, the entirety of Pace’s damages is subject to trebling,” Lichten wrote in his motion to triple damages.Under the mediation settlement, Pace will receive, in addition to money awarded by the jury, interest costs associated with the award and attorney’s fees. Following an initial payment, the balance of the money he will receive is slated to be paid from city free cash – surplus tax dollars reckoned into city accounts at the end of the year.Vitali said the Pace payment is not the largest legal settlement the city has paid out.”But it’s up there,” he added.