Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Fri, 03/04/2005 - 16:29 — GeorgeH
Here is one of many about this story.
Conviction would jeopardize pension
By Jason Tait
Staff Writer
METHUEN -- Ousted City Solicitor Maurice J. Lariviere runs the risk of losing all or part of the pension he has been paying into for 25 years if he is charged with a crime and convicted.
"Conviction of a crime can very well have an impact on a person's pension," said Barbara Phillips, a lawyer for the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, the oversight agency for all 106 retirement boards in the state.
Lariviere, 57, resigned Feb. 16 after a hidden camera installed in his office by police caught him kissing and touching his 33-year-old secretary. Essex County prosecutors are considering criminal charges that include indecent assault and battery and criminal harassment.
The Methuen Retirement Board is responsible for determining Lariviere's retirement benefits. He would be entitled to hearings before the board and to appeal in district courts.
City Council Chairman Michael W. Hennessy, who is also a nine-year member of the Retirement Board, said he hopes Lariviere does not lose any of his pension.
"He still has family. It would not seem right," Hennessy said yesterday.
Hennessy said that each pay period for the past 25 years, Lariviere has contributed 7 percent of his check to the retirement fund on the first $30,000 in salary. He chipped in an extra 2 percent on anything over $30,000.
His annual salary was $96,620. His pension would be a percentage of his salary, with the amount varying depending on the age at which he takes it. Figures were not immediately available.
As of yesterday, Lariviere had not applied for his retirement benefits. City Accountant Thomas Kelly did not return calls for comment.
Phillips would not discuss Lariviere's case specifically, saying that each case is reviewed on an individual basis.
"It's very, very, fact-specific," she said of determining whether someone gets their pension after a conviction.
According to the state's "dereliction of duty" laws, which Phillips quoted, a person convicted of a financial crime, such as embezzling cash from their job, can be denied all the money they contributed to the system.
If convicted of a nonfinancial crime that is related to their job, they can receive only the money they contributed to the system, but not the compounded interest.
The system is not cut and dry, Phillips said.
"The easy one is a police officer in uniform who beats someone up," she said of a case where the employee lost all or part of their pension.
But there was a recent case in which a police officer, wearing street clothes, shoplifted from a store outside the community in which he worked. The courts decided he was entitled to his pension, she said.
While Lariviere's situation depends first on whether charges are filed, Phillips said that all employees fighting for their pensions are given several layers of due process.
"You can't just take someone's pension away willy-nilly," Phillips said, noting that most government employees do not get Social Security retirement benefits and depend on their pensions.
Lariviere did not receive a severance, but received $39,137 from the city for accumulated sick and vacation time, the equivalent of 21 weeks' pay.
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Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
:-k
I think we need more info than this article is willing to provide.
I'd like to hear more about the evidence against him.
Having said that, it sounds to me like he might have violated his employer's workplace behavior policy, but not necessarily the law unless this kissing and touching was unwanted by his secretary.
So my take (from the info in this article ONLY) is that the charges should be dropped, and if his pension hangs on a CONVICTION (which won't happen if the charges get dropped) then he should get that too.
However, I wonder what the pension plan says about getting caught fooling around with a co-worker.
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Also, why was the police videotaping him in the first place?
Seems like there is a lot more to this.
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
OK February 17 was the first day this story broke in the paper but this story here a week later has the most information on it.
The original did say that she accused him off harasment and that was why the cameras were put in place.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Mayor, council at odds over solicitor resignation
By Jason Tait
Staff Writer
METHUEN -- Tensions are rising between Mayor Sharon M. Pollard and city councilors over the forced resignation of city lawyer Maurice K. Lariviere after a hidden camera caught him kissing and inappropriately touching his 33-year-old secretary.
The conflict stems from Pollard's refusal to release details about the circumstances that led to Lariviere's resignation and her opposition to the council's decision to hire Lawrence lawyer Peter J. McQuillan to fill the job temporarily.
"I want to know in general what the story is without having to read it in (the newspaper)," said Councilor Patricia Uliano. "It shows so much disrespect to an elected body."
Lariviere worked directly for the councilors yet they had no involvement in the investigation that ended with his resignation last Wednesday.
Police placed a hidden camera in Lariviere's office after the secretary complained he had touched her inappropriately. After he was caught on videotape, Lariviere was confronted in his office by police Chief Joseph Solomon. He agreed to resign. The secretary returned to work this week.
Councilor Matthew Kraunelis said councilors should have been in the loop. "I think that's where the tension lies," Kraunelis said.
Adding to the friction are Pollard's concerns about McQuillan's potential conflicts of interest, the mayor said.
McQuillan practices municipal law, helping clients navigate community boards and commissions. Pollard wants him to disclose all potential conflicts involving Methuen cases and report them to the State Ethics Commission for review.
Pollard did not initially want McQuillan for the job at all. She said she suggested the city's legal needs could be handled temporarily by David J. Bain, the city's personnel director, and Christine Touma-Conway, the city clerk. Both are lawyers. Paying them a stipend to take on the added duties would have saved money, Pollard said.
The solicitor's account was drained when Lariviere was paid for accumulated benefits, including unused sick and vacation time, when he resigned. Lariviere's salary was $96,620.
Councilor William M. Manzi III, who nominated McQuillan, said the decision about Lariviere's replacement was the council's to make.
"The (city) charter is clear that the appointing authority, both interim and permanent, lies with the City Council," said Manzi. "It should be cut and dry. Hopefully it will be."
Council Chairman Michael W. Hennessy said if Pollard had concerns about McQuillan, she should have told the City Council Tuesday night when they hired him. Pollard did not attend the meeting.
"I just wish she'd have said that to us first," Hennessy said of Pollard's concerns about McQuillan's conflicts of interest.
Hennessy expected to meet with Pollard today to discuss paying McQuillan's salary for the next three months, money that will have to come from the city's reserve fund.
Friction between Pollard and the council is unusual. Pollard campaigned hard to elect her own supporters, including Manzi, to the council. But Pollard is now a lame duck because of term limits, and Manzi is the leading candidate to succeed her.
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Hmm.
What a shame.
I hope I am never in such a situation. I hope this gets resolved justly and swiftly.
I see so many people get involved with co-workers and rarely, if ever, see anything good come out of it, I wonder why it happens in the first place.
:?
Thanks for keeping us updated.
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Keep in mind, this works two ways. Men can be descriminated against, if not sexually, then based on gender.
Look at what I am going through now. . .case and point
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Noone said it didn't
I just asked what's going on in Methuen. I twll you though...I don't know how much of a problem I would have with it if I weren't married. Well...I say that now. LOL
Re: Methuen City Councilor gets caught on tape...OOPS!
Sorry if I am a tad touchy, but I am going through a trial now with the Mass Comission against descrimination where I was discriminated against and treaded differently because I am a man.
Im stressed about it, thats all. sorry if I came off rough