BY SUSAN WARE
Sandra Piper and Michelle Bonsteel will get to appeal their termination to the Hooksett Town Council in a special meeting on Wednesday, July 18, at 7 p.m., the the Hooksett Public Library.
A hearing scheduled for May 31 had been canceled by both parties.
Piper and Bonsteel are part of the “Hooksett Four,” a moniker the media has given four former town employees with 46 years of town service between them.
Piper, Bonsteel, Jessica Skorupski and Joanne Drewniak were fired without warning in April after an investigation confirmed that they had gossiped about their boss, Town Administrator David Jodoin.
The Town Council made the decision to terminate all four after receiving a fact-finding report written by an investigator who questioned employees about whether they had been gossiping. The report recommended disciplinary action, not termination.
Piper, Bonsteel, Skorupski and Drewniak 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.
The Town Council initially offered to reinstate Piper and Bonsteel, but both declined as the offers came with disciplinary action. The Town Council quickly amended its offer to Piper, saying she may have early retirement, but cannot return to work.
Skorupski and Drewniak were granted an appeal hearing with Town Council in May, and were notified on May 25 that their appeal had been denied.
All four of the employees have had the option of making their case nonpublic, but have opted for the public eye, creating a media frenzy.
Calls for comment to Town Council Chairman George Longfellow went unreturned.
Attorney B.J. Branch, whose firm represents all four women, filed a petition in Merrimack County Superior Court on Tuesday, June 26, asking a judge to declare the terminations of Drewniak and Skorupski unlawful and to provide remediation which could include back pay, legal fees, lost time for pension vesting and other out-of-pocket expenses, plus damages.
He said at the time that he would not file on behalf of Piper and Bonsteel until they had their appeals hearing with Town Council.
Branch did not return calls for comment.