A $53,000 deal to end a lawsuit between former finance director Henry Domurad, Jr. and Mayor Anthony Staffieri fell apart Thursday after the Board of Aldermen voted to reject the settlement.
The vote was bipartisan, 8 – 1, with only Democratic Alderman Barbara DeGennaro voting in favor of the settlement.
The Domurad lawsuit now returns to Superior Court in Milford, where a hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. June 11.
Domurad was at the meeting in Derby City Hall, but left without commenting. Staffieri’s two attorneys advised him not to answer questions, including whether he was surprised by the vote.
Domurad was Derby’s finance director from 2008 until April.
The details surrounding his departure are in dispute. Domurad claims that Staffieri unjustly fired him and that the mayor’s office circulated a fraudulent letter of resignation.
Staffieri said Domurad resigned — and that he watched Domurad sign the letter of resignation in front of him.
Domurad files a multi-count lawsuit against the mayor earlier this month, claiming, in part, unlawful termination.
Lawyers for both sides negotiated for almost five hours Monday before reaching a proposed out-of-court settlement.
The Derby Aldermen held an executive session Thursday to discuss the settlement. Executive sessions are closed to the public and are allowed when a board discusses legal strategy.
The executive session started at 8:33 p.m. when the Aldermen and two city attorneys went into Staffieri’s office. At 9:42 p.m., Democrats on the board left the mayor’s office and huddled in a conference room within the Aldermanic Chambers.
At 10:10 p.m., the Aldermen reconvened in public.
The video above shows the Aldermen re-start the meeting and then vote on the settlement.
Aldermanic President Ron Sill read a motion that asked the board to authorize settling the case for $53,000, which included $8,000 for sick time and vacation pay.
Art Gerckens, Carmen DiCenso, Bev Moran, Ron Sill, Ken Hughes, Scott Boulton, Joe DiMartino and Stephen Iacuone all voted no.
The meeting was then adjourned.
The Aldermen declined to talk about why they voted against the settlement.
Sill indicated that the board may have wanted more information, but said he could not offer specifics.
“It’s all up in the air,” Sill said. “I can’t really comment because now it’s ongoing litigation.”
Earlier in the meeting, Linda Fusco, the chairwoman of the Derby Town Democratic Committee, urged the Aldermen to make the details of the settlement known to the public.
So did Democrat Tom Lionetti, who pointed out a cash settlement wouldn’t get to the heart of the controversy — who is not telling the truth when it comes to Domurad’s departure and what’s with that resignation letter?
“No one knows if Mr. Domurad signed it or if it was forged,” Lionetti said. “Let’s go back to court and find out what happened.”
An e‑mail message was sent late Thursday night to John Gesmonde, Domurad’s attorney.
