Metropolis, firefighters union conflict after Pawtucket, R.I. firefighters fired

Native Information

4 firefighters had been fired and 4 extra resigned after town of Pawtucket investigated them for misconduct.

By Darin Zullo

April 18, 2025 | 12:03 AM

2 minutes to learn

Tensions emerged between town of Pawtucket, R.I. and a firefighters union after town investigated eight Pawtucket firefighters for misconduct.

The investigation, performed by town’s human sources division, discovered that the eight firefighters had “engaged in attainable felony exercise leading to violations of the general public belief,” in line with a metropolis assertion.

4 of the firefighters had been fired Tuesday, and the opposite 4 resigned, three of whom additionally utilized for retirement. The 4 fired division workers are difficult their terminations, in line with Vincent F. Ragosta Jr., town’s legal professional.

The town didn’t remark additional in regards to the alleged felony exercise as a result of the felony investigation continues to be ongoing.

Ragosta additionally mentioned he couldn’t reveal the small print about what felony exercise the firefighters had been concerned in, however he did verify that the character of their crimes “implicates unfitness for responsibility.”

At a sequence of pre-deprivation hearings April 9, the 4 firefighters who had been later terminated got the chance to defend their employment. The phrases and circumstances of those hearings created the controversy between town and IAFF Native 1261, Pawtucket’s firefighters union.

Erik Cordeiro, the union’s president, mentioned in a press launch Wednesday that the firefighters had been “unjustly terminated” and had “impeccable and unblemished service data throughout the division.”

Cordeiro criticized Ragosta and alleged that he “willingly expressed he withheld proof” on the pre-deprivation hearings. The proof offered on the hearings got here from textual content messages from three years in the past, Cordeiro mentioned.

“The binding arbitration course of protects our membership from this type of ill-advised and unjust terminations,” Cordeiro mentioned within the press launch. “The Union will vigorously defend the wrongfully terminated fireplace fighters within the arbitration area, we are going to most definitely current our case, in contrast to Mr. Ragosta, within the courtroom of public opinion.”

Ragosta and town responded to the union in a press launch, stating that Cordeiro misunderstood what proof wanted to be offered on the hearings.

At pre-deprivation hearings, also called Loudermill hearings, solely the mandatory proof and a proof of that proof have to be offered, relatively than an entire listing of all of the proof introduced forth.

“At no level was any proof ‘withheld’ by any metropolis consultant, particularly Lawyer Ragosta, who was very forthright in explaining to Cordeiro that the legislation solely requires a proof of the proof supporting the contemplated firings, and never an exhaustive recitation and stock of all of the proof justifying firing the deviant firefighters,” town mentioned within the press launch. “Certainly, Lawyer Ragosta patiently and politely educated Cordeiro {that a} Loudermill-pre-deprivation listening to just isn’t a full-fledged evidentiary listening to the place all formal proof should be offered. Fairly its goal is to supply due course of to workers earlier than a termination resolution is made, to not decide the info definitively.”

The union has not but responded to town. Ragosta couldn’t verify precisely when extra data on the felony investigation can be launched.