aGameOfThrones
01-07-2013, 11:22 PM
A Lawrence, Mass., man fired from his public works job for taking too much time off to care for his dying wife is preparing to file a reverse racial-discrimination lawsuit—and that's just the tip of the iceberg in a firing that has spawned its share of news.
"We firmly believe that if Tom Sapienza was Hispanic and not white that he [would] have a job to come back to with the city of Lawrence,” Sapienza's attorney, Ellen Shimer-Brenes, told WHDH-TV.
Sapienza, a 41-year-old maintenance worker at Lawrence High School, was let go by the Department of Public Works in November after refusing to return from an unpaid leave of absence to care for his 40-year-old wife, Heather Sapienza. She died Jan. 3 after a 19-month battle with brain cancer.
But that's not all. On Friday, the man hired to replace Sapienza, fired police sergeant and former state Rep. Jose Santiago—whose hiring at the high school was called a "controversial move by [Lawrence] Mayor William Lantigua" in the Eagle Tribune—was arrested for allegedly violating a protective restraining order obtained by his ex-girlfriend.
Also according to the Eagle Tribune, Santiago’s ex-girlfriend obtained the restraining order in Lawrence District Court on Wednesday. Santiago, 53, violated it outside a local night club, leading to his arrest early Friday, according to police.
News of the arrest prompted city council members to call for Santiago's immediate firing.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/city-worker-fired-caring-dying-wife-preps-lawsuit-171249710.html
"We firmly believe that if Tom Sapienza was Hispanic and not white that he [would] have a job to come back to with the city of Lawrence,” Sapienza's attorney, Ellen Shimer-Brenes, told WHDH-TV.
Sapienza, a 41-year-old maintenance worker at Lawrence High School, was let go by the Department of Public Works in November after refusing to return from an unpaid leave of absence to care for his 40-year-old wife, Heather Sapienza. She died Jan. 3 after a 19-month battle with brain cancer.
But that's not all. On Friday, the man hired to replace Sapienza, fired police sergeant and former state Rep. Jose Santiago—whose hiring at the high school was called a "controversial move by [Lawrence] Mayor William Lantigua" in the Eagle Tribune—was arrested for allegedly violating a protective restraining order obtained by his ex-girlfriend.
Also according to the Eagle Tribune, Santiago’s ex-girlfriend obtained the restraining order in Lawrence District Court on Wednesday. Santiago, 53, violated it outside a local night club, leading to his arrest early Friday, according to police.
News of the arrest prompted city council members to call for Santiago's immediate firing.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/city-worker-fired-caring-dying-wife-preps-lawsuit-171249710.html