Nutting, Biggio, and Solomon face lawsuit
Published on May 27th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - An ugly situation got a little uglier, recently, when Building Inspector Robert Columbus filed a lawsuit against three town government figures claiming that they had conspired to deprive him of his rights, caused himself and his wife, Margaret, emotional distress and had abused their power, causing a breach of contract.
The 15-page lawsuit names Selectman John Biggio, Town Counsel William Solomon and Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting as the defendants of the lawsuit. There has been no word on what financial restitution the plaintiffs, Robert and Margaret Columbus, are seeking.
Robert Columbus was suspended from his duties in October after he allegedly lost his temper in Nutting's office and continued to shout as he walked down the hallway. Nutting suspended Columbus for improper conduct, but reinstated him two weeks later.
Columbus, however, failed to return to work, taking a leave of absence for medical reasons. He has yet to return to the job.
"I believe the suit's without merit and I believe that once the suit plays out, that will come to light," Nutting said earlier this week.
In the lawsuit, Columbus claims that Nutting "Attempted to coerce Mr. Columbus to retire by making a hostile work environment, including but not limited to, initiating and threatening Mr. Columbus with frivolous complaints that he would arrange to follow, depriving Mr. Columbus the right to carry out his employment, discriminating against his age and mental handicap, continuously threatening Mr. Columbus with Disciplinary Action 'up to and including discharge,' and making threats to Mr. Columbus aimed directly against Mr. Columbus' wife and his son, Stephen Columbus."
Nutting denied these charges, saying that he had merely warned Columbus on more than one occasion to avoid making determinations on any cases involving his son, an attorney. Columbus had been found in violation at one time of ethics codes and was fined $2,000 after allowing one of his son's clients a building permit.
"You need to be careful of this matter," Nutting said of the situation which he tried to address with Columbus. "I can't have that happen again."
Also contained in the lawsuit is a statement which Nutting made at a July 16, 1996 Board of Selectmen meeting. The plaintiff claims that when Nutting said "you're on the floor now and you'll be on the floor tomorrow," he was attempting to threaten, intimidate and coerce him.
"It was my way of saying that you have to stay out of the appearance of conflict," the town administrator said.
Biggio, who also has a lawsuit pending from a dispute with his neighbor, John Donovan, stemming from his desire to make Donovan get rid of his livestock, is also alleged to have coerced Columbus.
"Biggio instructed Mr. Columbus to find pretextual reasons to find many violations of the Town Code for the alleged purpose of inducing Mr. Donovan to sell his land to Biggio," Columbus' suit claims. "After Mr. Columbus refused Biggio's request by only enforcing legitimate violations, Biggio then submitted a complaint to Defendant Nutting against Mr. Donovan."
Biggio told the Independent that he had never attempted to coerce the plaintiff. He did say that, on more than one occasion over the years, he had spoken to Columbus about what he believed were possible health and building code violations on Mr. Donovan's property, but had never threatened him.
"I have nothing to do with (Columbus' labor dispute)," Biggio said. "I had no contact with him in that relation. I did complain to him over the years.
"I'm sure it will come out that we'll win this."
Town Counsel William Solomon is charged with conspiring with Biggio and Nutting in order to "order Mr. Columbus to discontinue to carry out the duties of his job with respect to the Donovan matter... as well as interfering with Mr. Columbus' right to make honest, uninfluenced determinations rendered in good faith as a Building Inspector in several other matters that the discovery process will reveal."
Solomon refused to comment on the lawsuit.
In addition, all defendants are named in claims that they intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Columbus and his wife; caused a breach of contract; interfered with contractual relations; defamed Columbus and his wife; and caused a loss of consortium for Margaret.
The three defendants will be appointed one or more attorneys by the town's insurance company.
Sal Frontiero, attorney for Columbus and his wife, also had no comment about the pending lawsuit.
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