A judge’s recent decision on another Right to Know Lawsuit in New Hampshire could cost the Town of Londonderry a pretty chunk of change in Court and legal fees.
I only bring that part up because the case exposes for our amusement just how corrupt and contemptible a local government can be. While not the slimy cistern of obstruction we know as Nashua, Londonderry has been circling its own drain for years. And without getting into a debate about any war waged by its self-proclaimed political elite against Londonderry Times publisher Deb Paul, this case was indeed frivolous.
The Judge used the word repeatedly in the decision. Frivolous. The Town had no basis for refusing the RSA 91a request for the documents in question but having read them, I can see why there might have been some interest in hiding them. They make Town Manager Michael Malaguti looks like a whiney little bitch.
Malaguti filed a sexual harassment complaint (creating a hostile work environment) with the Town based on this exchange, publicly available on the Town’s website.
COUNCILOR PAUL: . . . I believe that’s conflict of interest with the Planner being in economic development. You have
somebody seducing businesses to come here and then looking at their plans. That’s not a conflict of interest? That’s not a setup for a law firm, a lawsuit? No.
CHAIRMAN FARRELL Ok, we don’t seduce anybody.
COUNCILOR PAUL: Well, entice, intrigue, convince, use a word.
CHARMAN FARRELL: We follow the guidelines and follow the laws of the State of New Hampshire.
COUNCILOR PAUL: It’s still a conflict for me.
No one in their right mind – and a keen observer might discern that Malaguit appears trapped in his Left mind – would construe that to be harassment implicit, explicit, inferred, backhanded, or otherwise unless they are fragile and ill-suited for the job of town manager … or vindictive.
And then deny access to the email and attached letter of complaint to the accused. Deb Paul had to sue the Town for refusing to cough it up, and the Court took the Town and Malaguti to the woodshed.
This case involves a frivolous complaint of sexual harassment, brought in apparent bad faith. The complaint was brought by the highest administrative officer of a town. He brought the complaint against an elected official to have her censured for what she said at an ontherecord, public hearing. The views she expressed, and the language that she used, was constitutionally and statutorily protected political speech. …
Make no mistake, Malaguti’s accusation of sexual harassment was frivolous. …
On the record provided by the parties, it is impossible to view Councilor Paul’s comments as sexual harassment, or as sexual anything, or as a comment on the gender of the Town Planner/Development Director. Malaguti’s complaint that Councilor Paul attacked the personal integrity of the Town Planner/Development Director is equally specious.
The Judge goes on to provide numerous examples in context, including dictionary definitions of the word ‘seduced’ that have no sexual connotation of any sort. It is embarrassing or should be, and (again) perhaps that is why Londonderry worked diligently to hide it.
So what is it that doesn’t offend them about Malaguti’s behavior? In his effort to smear her, Londonderry lost a bunch of money, damaged himself and the Town, and wait – why don’t I just quote him?
I’d be curious to know if people thought that the war raging against Deb Paul by the Town of Londonderry, represented by this completely fabricated sexual harassment fiasco – exacerbated by the absurd obstruction undone by the 91-a court case – is the sort of disparaging, discriminating, harassment, the Town of Londonderry should never tolerate.
