BY SUSAN WARE
With litigation looming on the horizon, the town of Hooksett is already racking up legal bills dealing with the terminations of four town employees for gossiping.
Copies of legal bills for the Hooksett Town Council show two invoices from Devine Millimet & Branch, North Hampton, for a total of $22,742.64.
“I can’t believe it. I’m glad I’m sitting down,” said Town Councilor Patricia Rueppel.
The council had to seek legal advice to defend their decision to terminate Sandra Piper, Michelle Bonsteel, Jessica Skorupski and Joanne Drewniak on April 11.
The Hooksett Four, as they have been dubbed, don’t deny they were discussing the rumor of an alleged relationship between the married Jodoin and another employee, or that Drewniak used a derogatory term to describe Jodoin.
Personnel matters are typically handled in private, but the four women opted to have their hearings in public. They held interviews and told their side of the story while the Town Council sat mute until they issued a lengthy statement via their attorney on June 5. The statement blasted the former employees for the circus they created after the terminations and liability of a sexual harassment suit that they initially had put the town in.
On the surface, this all seems simple enough, but with the public watching every move, town councilors sought legal counsel before every step. Debra Weiss Ford, the attorney for Hooksett Town Council, charges $285 an hour. Her staff charges between $100 and $205 an hour.
“I have no comment except to say that if we did not take the route we took back in April, it would have cost the town a lot more in the long run,” said George Longfellow, chairman of the Town Council.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg. On June 26, attorney B.J. Branch filed a petition in Merrimack Superior Court asking a judge to declare the terminations of Drewniak and Skorupski unlawful.
According to Branch, remediation could include back pay, legal fees, lost time for pension vesting and other out-of-pocket expenses, plus damages.
For Ed Groves Sr. of Hooksett, these legal bills are too much. When he made his biannual property tax payment at town hall last week, he put a note in with his $2,000 check asking how much the town was spending on this legal matter.
“I just want to know. It is my right to know, as a taxpayer, what this foolishness is going to cost me,” said Groves. So far he hasn’t gotten a response from officials.
“I’d like the elected officials, the so-called experts, to tell me what this is going to cost me. They seem to have all of the answers, so answer me this,” said Groves.
Pauline Pellerin, a 40-year resident of Hooksett, echoed Groves’ statements.
“I am very upset about this whole mess with these four employees. It is a huge waste of our tax money. It is like they are throwing our tax dollars out the window,” said Pellerin.