TIVERTON — A civil suit brought against the town nearly seven years ago by a maintenance man’s helper who claimed he was fired for being a whistleblower has been settled for $75,000.
Larry Faulkner, who worked for the town for 1½ years, was a helper to then maintenance man Robert Martin when he complained to then Town Administrator James Goncalo in October 2013 that Martin was having him do work with him at his apartments during town time.
Martin, a town employee for more than 25 years, was suspended. He denied any wrongdoing and charges were never filed against him. He retired in April 2014.
Faulkner, who filed the suit in November 2013, returned to work for a time but then resigned in September 2014. He sought compensatory damages for lost wages and severe emotional stress.
He was not a full-time employee. His scheduled work hours were part time in the winter, 18 hours a week from Oct. 1 to March 31, and 32.5 hours a week from April 1 to Sept. 30.
The case was settled out of court earlier this month.
It had been on a list of cases of many town solicitors over the years, beginning with Andrew Teitz, who said in 2014 he expected a settlement “hopefully soon.”
Faulkner’s attorney, Bernard Healy of Pawtucket, said the case had been scheduled for trial 1½ years ago.
“This was really a whistleblower case,” Healy said. “It was an interesting case and I think Mr. Faulkner is happy to have concluded it in the fashion he did.”
Asked why the case took so long to settle, Healy said: Earlier, “the town was unwilling to pay what Mr. Faulkner thought was a fair value.”
Asked if he was satisfied with the final settlement, Healy said: “He’s satisfied with the amount. Obviously he would have been happy had more been received.”
Town Administrator Christopher Cotta said Faulkner “had asked for significantly more money. It took a while to get to this point where they could agree.”
The town’s insurance carrier, Interlocal Trust, was involved in the case and will pay $10,000 of the $75,000 settlement, Cotta said.
“The town started low,” Cotta said of settlement negotiations over the years. “It was a long protracted settlement.”