The Human Rights Commission dismissed the case on Thursday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Human Rights Commission dismissed the accusations that Mayor Daniel Bianchi engaged in racist actions against a Medford woman looking to open a business in the city.

 

The commission opened an investigation into claims from Doreen Wade that Bianchi was hostile and racist toward her last year. The complaints date back to 2013.

 

But the investigation ran out of steam and Wade became uncommunicative with the commission.

 

That lack of communication and inaction from the investigating subcommittee led the state to order the release of some 200 pages of evidence to iBerkshires.

 

"I don't agree with what the state said in terms of coming to this determination. But, I understand it," said member Pamela Malumphy. 

 

That determination and iBerkshires' two-part story laying out all of the evidence for the public led Malumphy to feel that the ad-hoc committee was "futile" in moving forward.

 

The investigating committee failed multiple times to reach Wade in Medford and it was just a few weeks ago when they found out she had moved to Framingham. Human Rights Commission Chairwoman Cecilia Rock said Wade stopped responding to emails and hadn't asked about or attended any of the hearings. 

 

"This has been tough in the last month and a half between not hearing from the complainant and this letter hanging out there from the state," Malumphy said.

 

The ad-hoc committee cited the state's determination that there is not an ongoing investigation as grounds to dismiss the case. Member Churchill Cotton, however, said he wouldn't dismiss it unless the commission itself found grounds to do so. Wade's lack of communication was the tipping point for Cotton.

 

"If we decide to dismiss the case, that is one thing. But for us to dismiss it based on what an outside agency says, I have a problem with that," Cotton said.

 

The full commission accepted the committee's report but ultimately dismissed the case based on Wade's lack of communication as well as the secretary of state's determination.

 

Member Robert Sykes said he was disappointed that they were unable to follow the case through to the end. 

 

"I think it would have been a good trial balloon for who we are and what we stand for. But it vaporized," he said. "I was hoping we would have had to deal with it and benefit from it even if the growth was painful."

 

Sykes wasn't upset with iBerkshires' reporting and public records request, saying, "the media did us a great service with their reasonable explanation of what took place," but rather that the case fell flat. 

 

He said the committee will certainly be acting more efficiently with the next complaint. 

 

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