Arbitrator rules school committee failed to justify termination of school superintendent, awards substantial lost wages and benefits
An arbitrator determined that the Saugus School Committee failed to establish good cause for terminating a school superintendent and awarded the firm’s client substantial lost wages and benefits.
Megan C. Deluhery and Elizabeth L. Gardon represent the former superintendent, Erin McMahon.
Following a multiple-day arbitration hearing, the arbitrator ruled that the Committee breached Dr. McMahon’s five-year employment contract by failing to provide sufficient grounds establishing good cause for its decision to fire her in November 2023, and, prior to the termination hearing, by failing to provide adequate notice to Dr. McMahon of the basis for the complaints against her.
The employment contract was slated to expire June 30, 2026.
The Committee, according to the arbitrator, failed to provide sufficient evidence to support its concerns over the superintendent’s professional relationship with a consulting firm, approval of vendor invoices, and allegations she spent an excessive amount of time away from the school district.
In addition to ruling in Dr. McMahon’s favor that the Committee lacked good cause to terminate, the arbitrator also found that the Committee withheld evidence from Dr. McMahon before she was fired and failed to notify her promptly and discretely of the allegations against her, despite the employment contract requiring it to do so.
The Committee’s refusal to provide contractually required notice, the arbitrator found, thwarted Dr. McMahon’s ability to remedy any alleged concerns prior to being coerced into taking administrative leave, and to rebut the charges prior to the Committee’s vote to terminate.
A separate proceeding alleging gender bias related to this matter is pending before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.