The controversy surrounding former Derby Finance Director Henry Domurad’s departure from City Hall last year just won’t go away.
At a meeting June 27, the Derby Board of Aldermen voted 5 – 2 to direct the city’s attorney to research and determine whether any unused vacation, personal or sick days are owed to Domurad.
The vote was split among party lines, with the Democratic majority in favor.
However, Mayor Anthony Staffieri killed the motion by issuing a veto July 2.
“I do not wish to waste any more time on this matter in disregard to the Court decision against Mr. Domurad’s claims,” Staffieri’s veto reads.
The mayor did not return a message seeking comment for this article, nor did corporation counsel Joseph Coppola or John Gesmonde, a lawyer who once represented Domurad.
Background
Domurad left Derby City Hall in April 2012.
The mayor’s office said he submitted a letter of resignation.
Domurad said he was fired and claimed the signature on the resignation letter wasn’t his.
He later sued to be reinstated.
The majority of the Board of Aldermen voted twice against settling Domurad’s lawsuit out of court. The rejected settlement would have seen Domurad receive $53,000 — $8,000 of which was sick time and vacation days.
During a court hearing, his lawyer alleged that Staffieri’s office, as a condition of hiring Domurad, had Domurad sign a pre-written letter of resignation that would be enacted at the mayor’s will.
However, a judge couldn’t get past Domurad’s initial assertion that the signature on the letter wasn’t his. The judge said Domurad lacked credibility, effectively crippling Domurad’s lawsuit.
In the end, Derby didn’t have to pay a dime.
Still Owed Money?
In recent months, the Aldermen have been talking — in executive session, which are meetings closed to the public — about whether the city owes Domurad sick time, along with personal and vacation days.
Democratic Alderman Ron Sill said Monday (July 8) that Domurad should get any money owed him, despite the controversy over his departure.
“No matter what, he put the time in and that should have been cut and dried that it was his,” Sill said. “I’ve never seen anybody that it was denied to in City Hall … That’s what we do to one of our own in Derby? It just doesn’t seem right.”
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Democratic Alderman Art Gerckens said he wasn’t surprised by Staffieri’s veto.
“Apparently when things don’t go this mayor’s way, his answer is to veto it and that’s it,” Gerckens said.
He pointed out that Staffieri has vetoed Aldermen three times in the past year, twice in matters which concerned Domurad.
But with the Democrats holding a slim 5 – 4 majority on the board, Gerckens conceded Domurad will probably have to pursue his case by other means — per the city’s charter, six votes are needed to override mayoral vetoes.
“I think they know they can veto anything they want as long as it’s 5 – 4 and I think that’s what they intend to do,” Gerckens said. “(Domurad) needs to go directly to the state labor board and see if they can step in on his behalf.”
The mayor’s written veto indicates the city is looking to shore up its position in a lawsuit.
“The matter is in litigation, and the Corporation Counsel should be involved in the discussion of payment of any claimed benefits only in the resolution of the litigation,” the veto reads.
But there’s no record of new Domurad litigation in Derby City Hall or within the local court system.
A spokesman with the state’s Labor Department said there were no claims pending regarding Domurad before the state’s Board of Labor Relations or the department’s Board of Mediation and Arbitration.
Mayor: Aldermen ‘Crazy’
Staffieri did not return a message left in his office this week, but in April said his stance on the issue was simple: the city won in court, so they shouldn’t pay Domurad.
“The judge called him a liar, said ‘Mr. Domurad, you know that was your signature, you don’t have a contract.’ Connecticut state law says if you don’t have a contract, you’re an at-will employee, you don’t have any benefits,” Staffieri said.
In April the mayor accused several Aldermen — DeGennaro, Sill, Gerckens, and DiCenso — of playing politics with the issue.
“Now here it is, the Democrats, Mr. Sill, Mr. Gerckens, Mr. DiCenso, Ms. DeGennaro — they all voted against giving him the payout. We had to go to court because of that,” Staffieri said.
“But then we went to court and the court says we don’t have to pay nothing. Now they’re looking to pay for it out of the city coffers. How crazy is that?”
