A former North Providence employee is suing Mayor Charles A. Lombardi Sr. and the head of public works, accusing them of making him do work at their residences during work hours, and of charging the construction materials to the town credit card.
Michael Charbatji, who worked for the town from 2017 until he was fired in 2022, sued Lombardi and Department of Public Works Director James M. Fuoroli in Superior Court on June 10, alleging they violated the Whistleblowers’ Act and retaliated against him after he refused to perform work on their personal properties during work hours.
“Based on my preliminary investigation, it is clear that the town has wrongfully discharged him and has unlawfully retaliated against him in violation of the Whistleblowers Protection Act, as well as other violations of Rhode Island and federal laws,” his lawyer, Lisa S. Holley, wrote to the town in December, putting officials on notice of Charbatji’s intention to sue based on his wrongful termination.
Charbatji is seeking compensation for back pay, lost benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and cost for the alleged unlawful employment practice and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He asks, too, for the court to declare his termination from employment a violation of Whistleblowers Protection Act and to get his job back.
Holley declined to comment beyond saying “the complaint speaks for itself.”
Lombardi said he had been “threatened” with the lawsuit for the past six months.
“I will comment on these accusations at the appropriate time,” he said.
What is the lawsuit against Mayor Lombardi about?
According to the lawsuit, Charbatji owned a successful private contracting company, Mike’s Remodeling, LLC, providing contracting services to both residential and commercial customers.
Lombardi told him that the town would be building a new school and asked him to come on board, adding that the town “offered good benefits” and he would “get lot of overtime.” The mayor assured him would be getting several raises that would be financially advantageous to him, the lawsuit claims.
Lombardi owns several dry-cleaning businesses as “Luxury Cleaners,” with locations in in Lincoln and North Providence, as well as multiple houses, including a summer home in Narragansett.
Charbatji was hired in 2017 and dissolved his private contracting company on April 11, 2018. Fuoroli was his supervisor and his job duties included providing general maintenance and repairs to town buildings,” the lawsuit says.
He intended to work for North Providence until he turned 75 so that he would be eligible for full retirement benefits.
But Charbatji soon found himself performing work at the mayor’s summer house at 10 Irving Path in Narragansett multiple times when he was supposed to be at work, as well as being asked to work at Lombardi’s commercial businesses, residences and rental properties at the mayor and Fuoroli’s direction. He also did work at Fuoroli’s personal property located at 53 Kiley Street, North Providence, the lawsuit states.
On many occasions, Charbatji was unable to make it back to the town to use the fingerprint scan to log out of the attendance program and Fuoroli would indicate on the computer-generated time record that he “forgot” to punch out.
Fuoroli directed him to use his own personal vehicle when working on Lombardi’s properties,” according to the lawsuit. He would also provide the materials needed by purchasing supplies by using the town’s Lowe’s store credit card.
On one occasion, while he was working on the Narragansett rental, he was approached by North Providence firefighter, who was at a neighboring home, and called Fuoroli to tell him he was approached by the firefighter. He told Fuoroli he was uncomfortable performing personal repairs during work hours and was told to “be careful of him; he’s rat.”
A second firefighter told him “Do you think you are the only one who knows you go to Narragansett to work on the mayor’s property? Everyone knows and talks.”
Charbatji began experiencing severe stress about doing work on Lombardi’s properties during work hours, according to the lawsuit. He became increasingly concerned that he was being directed by Lombardi and Fuoroli to do something wrong or potentially illegal. He worried, too, that he’d be fired if he refused.
On one occasion, he purchased doors for the mayor’s summer home and wasn’t reimbursed. Fuoroli directed him and another employee, Romeo D’Andrea, to do various repairs at the home.
Lombardi told him that he could not give him a raise, but if he needed money, he “would give him cash to work on his property in the back of Town Hall” and he would be paid overtime by the town.
`Deny, deny, deny’
Charbatji informed Lombardi that he would no longer work on personal properties during work hours, that he was very uncomfortable.
Lombardi got angry and said “If you tell anyone about this conversation, I will lie and deny, deny, deny that this conversation ever happened.”
Roger Achille, then the human resources director, asked him if he had done work on Lombardi’s house behind town hall,” the lawsuit says. He told Achille he wanted a meeting with Lombardi and Fuoroli and that he didn’t want to meet with them alone because they were “liars.”
Charbatji says the stress sent him to the hospital
The day of the August 2022 meeting; however, Charbatji says he experienced chest pains due to stress and was taken to the emergency room at Miriam Hospital.
His primary doctor referred him to Providence Behavioral Health due to the extreme stress he was experiencing. He received Temporary Disability Insurance until his benefits expired on Dec. 10, 2022.
In September 2022, Achille advised Charbatji that he had exhausted his “paid leave and protected FMLA,” and that he would be placing him on unpaid leave. Achille told Charbatji that such requests had to be approved by Lombardi, the lawsuit states.
Achille told him he had to call Lombardi personally to request to remain out of work. Charbatji responded that he could not speak with Lombardi due to his mental health and stated, “he is the reason I am out on stress … [he] put me in this situation and put me in the hospital.”
On Nov. 18, 2022, Lombardi sent a North Providence Police officer to his home to deliver a letter terminating his employment, stating that as a pretext that he was on “unauthorized and unexcused leave.”
North Providence used the pretext of “unauthorized and unexcused leave” to wrongfully terminate Charbatji after he requested a meeting with Achille to advise him of the violations of law which he had been ordered to commit over the course of his employment, the complaint says.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawsuit says NP Mayor Lombardi used town workers on personal properties