Judge orders city to reinstate Dionne’s health benefits until matter is settled in court

By JOSEPH B. NADEAU

WOONSOCKET — John R. Dionne won city health care benefits through a Personnel Board decision, then lost them, and now has them back.

That was how a week of maneuvering over the former city human services director’s benefits ended up, following a hearing before Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Hurst on Friday.
Dionne’s attorney, Howard Croll, said the judge moved to restore the coverage pending a future court action to decide the case.
“We agreed with the judge to get a restraining order from removing him from the city’s health care,” Croll said of the outcome of the hearing before Hurst.
In turn, Dionne agreed to pay $182 a month to an escrow account with Croll that could be tapped by the city were he to lose in his bid for continued city coverage through the court process.
“It extends to him the city coverage and keeps him in the plan because this could go on for some time,” Croll said. “But in the event he is not successful, it also gives the city a fund it could go to,” he added.
Croll said he is also preparing to submit a separate action to the court which would address the city’s move to end the benefits as a “breach of contract’’ with his client. The city must first be formally notified of the suit before it is filed, he said.
Dionne had remained on the city’s health care plan even after resigning from his post under a City Hall e-mail flap last July and went before the Personnel Board on Jan. 16 to confirm his eligibility for the continued coverage.
The Personnel Board took a vote in closed session to award Dionne the standard city health care plan with co-pays as well as payment of 60 percent of his accrued sick time.
The move, however, drew strong criticism from members of the City Council, who argued Dionne was not entitled to such continued benefits and also prompted Mayor Susan D. Menard to call on Personnel Board chairman, former Mayor Charles C. Baldelli, to reconsider his panel’s action.
Baldelli filed a letter with the city’s personnel director, Owen T. Bebeau, stating he wished to take that step and the topic is expected to come before the personnel panel at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
The City Council also moved last week to hire its own legal counsel, Attorney Joseph S. Larisa Jr., to review the matter.
The hiring was approved during a special meeting on Wednesday by a unanimous vote of the six council members present — Council President Leo T. Fontaine, John F. Ward, William Scheck, Suzanne J. Vadenais, Stella Brien and Christopher Beauchamp. Councilman Roger Jalette did not attend the special meeting.
Fontaine said the hiring will give the council independent legal advice on the Dionne case and also allow the panel to use subpoena powers as part of its fact-finding and record collection efforts under the review.
Larisa’s hiring came as the city moved on Wednesday to remove Dionne from its health care plan in light of the pending Personnel Board reconsideration vote. City Solicitor Robert C. Iuliano also moved to challenged the award in Superior Court, a step that in turn triggered Croll’s request to appear before Hurst for consideration of an injunction.
When contacted about Friday’s court action, Councilman Ward said he had been informed of the injunction and its related requirement that Dionne create fund to cover his premium costs in the event the city were to prevail in the matter.
The fact Dionne now appears to be appealing a city decision to keep the benefit would be a more proper course for such a matter to follow, he noted. Iuliano also invited Larisa to serve as co-counsel in the case under a move that would combine the city’s legal representation for the proceedings, according to Ward.
“It’s what it is,” Ward said of the case. At this point, the council is a spectator to the proceeding, he said.
Fontaine said Saturday that it was not surprising an injunction had been granted Dionne.
“It’s a case of the judge saying hold off on everything until we get to a hearing,” he said.