Firing Of Nantucket 911 Dispatcher Upheld By Select Board

The Select Board has denied former town of Nantucket 911 dispatch assistant supervisor Patrick Considine’s wrongful termination grievance, siding with Nantucket Police Chief Jody Kasper and town administration in the dispute, and upholding his firing.

Considine was fired by the town in late April, one day after speaking out at a Select Board hearing to allege retaliation and discrimination amid an ongoing grievance over dispatchers’ ability to work third-party details.

“The Nantucket Select Board’s denial of two separate grievances filed by members of the 911 Communications Department is deeply disturbing and raises serious concerns about accountability, transparency, and corruption within town government,” Considine said in a statement to the Current.

The Current requested the Select Board to release its decision on the grievance; however, board chair Dawn Hill gave the following response: “As you know, it is the policy of the Town of Nantucket as well as state law that we do not comment on the status of pending internal personnel matters,” Hill said. “We have been informed that this is due to the privacy rights of employees. In general and without specific reference to this case town departments are all have work rules which we expect will be observed by all employees. The town strives in all cases to apply those rules equally across the board. I am sorry that we are not able to make any further comment on this matter at this time.”

The decision by the Select Board is the latest chapter in a simmering dispute over whether Nantucket dispatchers can work paid third-party details - such as directing traffic around road construction areas - which historically have gone to police officers and the department's Community Service Officers (CSOs). The dispatchers, who are covered under the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Nantucket Public Employees' Local Union 1060, believe their most recent contract with the town, which was ratified three years ago, entitles them to work third-party details, but they have so far been precluded from earning additional income through those assignments.

A clause in the contract reads "Employees of the Police Department are eligible to enroll in third-party detail training and sign up for third-party detail assignments. Employees will be limited to third-party detail work that is not conducted by the Town of Nantucket and will be compensated pursuant to the fee structure paid by the third-party to the Town of Nantucket. Third-party detail work may not be performed during regularly scheduled hours of work and accrued leave may not be utilized to perform such detail work."

In his remarks to the Select Board in late April, Considine stated that "It should be noted that when we filed our initial grievance against Kasper for her blatant breach of contract and creating a mock third-party detail training to further the cover-up, there are three steps one must follow. Steps one and two were denied by Kasper and Gibson. Now step three goes in front of the Select Board. These very five elected officials had a duty to intervene as our highest governing body, but they refused and denied the grievance. Not only did the board refuse the grievance, but they participated in the retaliation."

Kasper has not commented publicly on the situation, but provided the following statement to the Current earlier this month:

“While I would like to share more information, I am not able to do so at this time," Kasper stated. "More broadly, as Chief of Police, I have a responsibility to address concerning behavior within our work environment. I hold myself and members of this department to the high standards that our community expects and deserves. When those standards are not met, it is my duty to ensure that the matter is addressed appropriately. I remain committed to maintaining a department grounded in professionalism, integrity and service.”