Fired Dalton Chief Files Lawsuit Against District
DALTON, Mass. — Christian Tobin, who was terminated as chief of the Fire Department, wants his position back along with damages in a lawsuit filed against the Fire District and its officials.
The case was filed with Berkshire Superior Court on May 14 by attorney Elizabeth Quigley, on behalf of Tobin, who is alleging a breach of contract and wrongful termination.
The board unanimously voted to terminate Tobin in January following allegations of sexual harassment, grant overspending, and "employee concerns."
The suit is against the district, the three members of the Board of Water Commissioners — Chairman James Driscoll, Camillus Cachat Jr., and Michael Kubicki — and the district's treasurer and clerk, Melanie Roucoulet.
Tobin has asked for a jury trial. In addition to the reinstatement of his position, he is seeking damages, back pay, additional interest, and attorney fees.
Tobin asserted multiple accusations in the case filing against the Fire District of falsification of records, policy and compliance violations, Open Meeting Law violations, retaliation civil conspiracy, lack of cause for termination and an improper investigation.
One thing that Tobin claims in the lawsuit and during his administrative leave is that he worked to rectify unlawful departmental practices and financial misconduct.
Tobin alleges that in July 2024, he discovered the department had a negative budgetary balance, but did not know the exact amount at the time. However, he says he suspected possible wrongdoing by the Fire District officials.
He claims that it was at this point, that Driscoll and other board members told him to manage things the "Dalton way."
"Chairman Driscoll further cornered [Tobin] in the Fire Chief Office and reinforced the 'Dalton Way' position before advising [Tobin] that steps would be taken, if necessary and complaints were mounting," the lawsuit states.
When Tobin inquired about these complaints he was told they were confidential.
In February 2024, Tobin decided to restructure ambulance services by eliminating the paid ambulance director position, which had a salary of $65,000, and delegate the role into a "multifaceted ambulance administration."
Tobin claims that this would save money which would be would be used to "re-outfit existing members with Personal Protective Gear and also compensate them for the additional tasks," the lawsuit said.
In the suit, Tobin alleges that person next in line to fill the ambulance director position then made complaints to the board.
"It is alleged that Morgan McDonough advanced complaints about [Tobin] to the Board alleging improper conduct after she learned about the restructuring of the position," the lawsuit says.
"Note that shortly after [Tobin] was placed on administrative leave, the ambulance restructure was reversed and said Morgan McDonough accepted the job from now Acting Chief [Michael] Cachet."
In July, Tobin requested clarification on managing things "the Dalton Way" in a letter that was met with silence, the suit said.
Tobin's letter alleges several issues including "falsification of records for state and federal grants, missing funds and fire equipment, unauthorized disposition of vehicles and equipment, significant financial debt, inappropriate behavior and sexual relationships within the fire station and between employees," according to the lawsuit.
Additionally, "misuse of public funds for personal travel, hotels and dining, state and federal wage violations that remain unaddressed, previous and ongoing open meeting violations, kickbacks on fire department purchases and other improprieties."
The lawsuit said Tobin didn't release the letter to the public in the hopes the board would address the issues.
"It is alleged the board was becoming worried by [Tobin's] suggestions, investigations, and concerns [and] conveyed to [Tobin] that there were alleged complaints about him, morale was low and [he] had been shirking his duties," the lawsuit says.
"Kubicki, personally, conveyed to [Tobin] that is how the last chief got fired. [Tobin] asserts that it implied onto him to either conform or be fired. It was clear steps were being taken to control [him] and exert pressure to bend to the Board’s possible illicit practices."
Eventually, Tobin claimed Roucoulet informed him that the negative budgetary balance was $183,084, which was attributed to overtime.
On Aug. 8, 2024, Tobin was placed on paid administrative leave, which the lawsuit claims is "directly after" he suggested a forensic audit.
This leave was anticipated to last four weeks but became indefinite in September, pending a third-party investigation.
At the end of August 2024, an audit conducted by Thomas Scanlon of Scanlon & Associates asserted that the district had a deficit of approximately $165,000.
It was said then that this deficit stemmed from overspending in the fire and ambulance budgets for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, primarily because of overtime expenses for firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
Tobin claims that the board prompted him to "look the other way" to "the financial practices and workplace standards violations at the department," and when he didn’t, they terminated him in retaliation.
In the lawsuit, Tobin claims that the investigation by Kerry Gilpin of Comprehensive Investigations and Consulting was rushed, biased, and lacked substantial evidence.
Tobin claims he was never contacted during the investigation, and was unaware of allegations against him, and was unable to rebut or contrast the report's conclusions or its findings.
To date, Tobin is unaware of the specific alleged improper conduct complained about, as the board refused to release the investigative report and conclusions, according to the lawsuit, and that he was only provided with alleged unsigned complaints.
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