Volunteer firefighters suing town for legal fees, salaries
Volunteer firefighters suing town for legal fees, salaries
By Joseph M. D’Alise, Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:56 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD, NJ - Five months after Springfield’s ex-fire chief was charged with forgery and the former captain was fired amid allegations they tampered with the departments 2007 entrance exam results, the volunteer firefighters who made the claims are suing the township.
In the lawsuit seeking unspecified damages, Dino D’Angelo and Connor Hamilton claim they are owed some compensation for legal fees, as well as salary they would have received if results of the exam had not be altered. The lawsuit was filed Feb. 24 at Superior Court in Elizabeth.
The volunteers had tried to join the fire force’s paid division, filed a separate lawsuit a year ago, alleging the process was rigged to favor former chief Wayne Masiello’s son, Adam, and captain Michael Bilotti’s nephew, Jeremy. “Had [Masiello] not forged those scores, they would have been at the top of the list,” said Michael Prigoff, who represents Hamilton and D’Angelo.
As in the previous suit, Prigoff will argue his clients’ scores were suppressed as the scores of Adam Masiello and Jeremy Bilotti were raised, and that they did not match the results of the state Career Fire Chiefs Association, which administered the exam. Had the scores been accurate, Hamilton and D’Angelo would have ranked second and third, respectively on the list. Because the department has since hired the top two scorers, and given a conditional offer to the third scorer, Prigoff said his clients were cheated out of jobs.
“They were forced to incur the expense of suing the town in the first place,” said Prigoff. “Only because of their efforts was this fraud discovered.”
Prigoff said his clients are seeking legal fees and the salaries they would have earned, collectively, had the test results been correct and they became firefighters.
“These…guys would make outstanding firefighters. They have tremendous training and experience,” said Prigoff. Hamilton and D’Angelo have been working as volunteer firefighters for six years and three years, respectively.
Mayor Bart Fraenkel said, as of March 6, township officials had not received the complaint.
“We have not been served with...papers,” Fraenkel explained. “There is no issue, until I hear differently.”
Township attorney Bruce Bergen declined comment, stating, like Fraenkel, he had not seen the complaint and is unaware of the specifics of the lawsuit.
The township has not yet created a new ordinance or official criteria for appointing new firefighters to the department, though officials had said the idea was being discussed.
According to Prigoff, his clients will be protected from retaliation under the Whistleblower Protection Act, as they are considered township employees.
Alleging test results were rigged, firefighters file suit
Alleging test results were rigged, firefighters file suit seeking $85K
Thursday, February 26, 2009
BY LESLIE KWOH
Star-Ledger Staff
The two volunteer firefighters who claim they were cheated out of paid jobs with the Springfield Fire Department when the former fire chief rigged the results of an entrance exam have filed another lawsuit with the Superior Court, this time claiming more than $85,000 in damages.
In the suit, filed Tuesday in Elizabeth, Dino D'Angelo and Connor Hamilton claim they are owed compensation for legal fees, as well as salary they would have received if the results of the 2007 entrance exam had not been forged. The pair, who wanted to join the department's paid professional division, filed a separate lawsuit last March alleging the process was rigged to favor Fire Chief Wayne Masiello's son and Capt. Michael Bilotti's nephew.
Masiello, who subsequently retired, was later charged by the county prosecutor's office with forgery. Bilotti was terminated after a unanimous vote by the township committee.
Yesterday, attorney Michael Prigoff said his clients were claiming at least $35,000 in legal fees, and another $50,000 for salary they would have collectively earned had the results been correct.
As in the previous suit, Prigoff argued that official results for the oral section of the exam, which was conducted by members of the New Jersey State Career Fire Chiefs Association, did not match results posted by Masiello. While his clients' scores were being lowered, the grades for the chief's son and the captain's nephew were raised substantially on the short list for potential hires.
But had the scores been accurate, Hamilton and D'Angelo would have ranked second and third, respectively on the list, he said. Since the department has since hired the top two scorers on the exam, and given a conditional offer to the third scorer, Prigoff said his clients were essentially cheated out of jobs.
"Had they done this properly, at least one or both of them would be appointed as firefighters by now," Prigoff said.
Springfield Mayor Bart Fraenkel said yesterday he had not received the complaint but was surprised the issue was resurfacing.
"I was under the impression that this had all been addressed on one level or another, and that nothing else was going on now," Fraenkel said.
Masiello, when reached at his home yesterday, declined to comment.
On February 24, 2009, Dino and myself filed a new complaint against Springfield Township and Ex-Fire Chief Wayne Masiello for their involvement with the 2007 hiring exam. The filing comes after a several month legal hiatus as a result of the tort claims act.
SFD troubles take center stage
By Joseph M. D’Alise, Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 2:18 PM CST
SPRINGFIELD, NJ - The Fire Department couldn’t stay out of the spotlight in 2008.
One small scandal flared up after another following complaints in February from two volunteer firefighters, Dino D’Angelo and Connor Hamilton, who claimed there was video evidence showing former Fire Chief Wayne Masiello’s son, Adam, botching part of his physical exam and that his high score on the oral exam may be false.
D’Angelo also alleged former Fire Captain Michael Bilotti had tried to secure a place for his nephew, Jeremy, at the department by making sure his oral test scores were boosted.
The two volunteers acted by filing a lawsuit against the fire department. This controversy ignited another.
The lawsuit led Springfield Mayor Bart Fraenkel to request the county Prosecutor’s Office investigate the Fire Department. During their probe, a photocopy of Bilotti’s General Educational Development diploma was found. When asked for the original copy, Bilotti could not produce it, claiming it was lost in a house fire several years earlier.
“All we’ve ever required from our township departments is accountability and respect,” Fraenkel said in reflection. “People make mistakes, but a learned experience is a growing experience, and we’ve grown as a municipality.”
After several hearings to determine the validity of the diploma, it was determined Bilotti did not have a valid GED and the governing body voted to fire him on Oct. 14.
Masiello, 56, who had retired in March after 25 years of service, did not escape unscathed by the mess.
In late October, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office charged Masiello with forgery for allegedly altering a firefighters entrance exam taken in November 2007.
If convicted on the two counts of fourth-degree forgery, Masiello faced three years in prison. The county offered Masiello Pre-Trial Intervention, which provides defendants, generally first-time offenders, with alternatives to the traditional criminal justice process.
Hamilton hopes 2009 will be a better year. “We have a good, new chief (James Sanford), and the department is...moving forward,” he said
As reported earlier by SpringfieldTRUTH, Captain Bilotti is appealing his termination and an article by Gabe Gluck covering his appeal was printed in the Star-Ledger today.
A copy of Bilotti's hearing report can be found here.
Fired Springfield fireman appeals removal
Captain accused of forging high school diploma to get position in 1994
Thursday, November 13, 2008
BY GABRIEL H. GLUCK
Star-Ledger Staff
A Springfield fire captain is appealing his removal from the township fire department after an investigation found evidence suggesting he forged documents to become a firefighter 14 years ago.
Last month, the township committee voted unanimously to terminate Capt. Michael Bilotti, who was suspended from his $85,000 job in mid-May.
The five-member governing body accepted a hearing officer's conclusion that Bilotti did not have a high school equivalency degree and that without that degree, it was a violation of state statute for him to become a fireman.
While court rules allow Bilotti and the township well over a year to obtain any additional materials or documentation needed for the appeal, Bilotti's attorney, James Addis, said he hoped the matter would be resolved in a few months.
Bilotti is unemployed and has no prospects for a job, he said. "He wants to work as a firefighter, which inhibits his search for work," Addis said.
While Addis maintains that Bilotti was an asset to the fire department and should be allowed to obtain a graduate equivalency degree, at this point a judge would have to agree because the township committee has already rejected the suggestion.
In his 10-page report to the township committee, hearing officer Robert Czech found there was "a strong preponderance of the evidence that Michael Bilotti does not have a valid high school equivalency diploma and that the copy of the diploma submitted in 1994 along with his application was a knowing misrepresentation."
During the hearing township administrator Ed Fanning testified that when officials examined the diploma in Bilotti's file, it appeared to be altered.
Czech further found that by Bilotti submitting the false diploma, he violated state statute that requires officers to be "of good moral character" and that such conduct fosters a mistrust because of those misrepresentations.
Addis said Bilotti has no idea where the forged degree came from.
"It's always been his position that the document sent to Trenton for validation was not the same document that was in his file in 1994," Addis said.
"We think there are other ways to resolve this case. Here you have an experienced, tested, tried fire captain. To discard his experience is a mistake and a waste of taxpayers' money by the township," he said.
Mayor Bart Fraenkel said state statute is clear that a high school diploma or graduate equivalency degree is a requirement for becoming a firefighter.
"If the state wants to change its requirements for Mr. Bilotti, that is their prerogative. But I would be very surprised if that is what they do," Fraenkel said.
