Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

Misconduct charge against union representative

I am not certain where the "charge" of misconduct came from, and who the Executive Board was. Assuming that the Executive Board was the Board of the Police Union, and that the charge of misconduct against you was made by the executive board of the police union, and that the "misconduct charge" is an internal police union procedure (and not a violation of federal, state or town statute or regulation) my thoughts would be as follows:

First, how were the charges of misconduct brought, and what are the long term ramifications of them. If they were published in the local newspaper, for example, you may have a defamation claim (civil).Second, did you know about the requirement that no information leave the meeting at the time you spoke to the local union President? If not, you were just doing your job...Third, do the by-laws and Constitution of your Union provide clear guidance in this situation, or could reasonable people interpret provisions in a conflicting way?Fourth, what were the results of the charge? and how public were the proceedings?

If there is a remedy, I suspect it is a civil remedy for "breach of contract", where the constitution and by-laws define a contract of the relationship, in conjunction with the Union's contract with the town. I would guess that your union contract has some language that protects members from unfair treatment at the hands of the town. Look carefully there. Final thoughts; why was the Selectman bringing his concerns forward in this forum?? If it was larceny, then the police must have an internals investigations function, or the DA could look in to the situation. Seems a strange venue to discuss the issue in the first place.

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