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Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Providence Mayor Lombardi made ex-town employee work on his personal properties, lawsuit says
A former North Providence employee is suing Mayor Charles A. Lombardi Sr. and the head of public works, accusing them of making him do work at their residences during work hours, and of charging the construction materials to the town credit card. Michael Charbatji, who worked for the town from 2017 until he was fired in 2022, sued Lombardi and Department of Public Works Director James M. Fuoroli in Superior Court on June 10, alleging they violated the Whistleblowers' Act and retaliated against him after he refused to perform work on their personal properties during work hours. 'Based on my preliminary investigation, it is clear that the town has wrongfully discharged him and has unlawfully retaliated against him in violation of the Whistleblowers Protection Act, as well as other violations of Rhode Island and federal laws,' his lawyer, Lisa S. Holley, wrote to the town in December, putting officials on notice of Charbatji's intention to sue based on his wrongful termination. Charbatji is seeking compensation for back pay, lost benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and cost for the alleged unlawful employment practice and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He asks, too, for the court to declare his termination from employment a violation of Whistleblowers Protection Act and to get his job back. Holley declined to comment beyond saying 'the complaint speaks for itself.' Lombardi said he had been 'threatened' with the lawsuit for the past six months. 'I will comment on these accusations at the appropriate time,' he said. According to the lawsuit, Charbatji owned a successful private contracting company, Mike's Remodeling, LLC, providing contracting services to both residential and commercial customers. Lombardi told him that the town would be building a new school and asked him to come on board, adding that the town "offered good benefits" and he would "get lot of overtime." The mayor assured him he would be getting several raises that would be financially advantageous to him, the lawsuit claims. Lombardi owns several dry-cleaning businesses as "Luxury Cleaners," with locations in Lincoln and North Providence, as well as multiple houses, including a summer home in Narragansett. Charbatji was hired in 2017 and dissolved his private contracting company on April 11, 2018. Fuoroli was his supervisor and his job duties included providing general maintenance and repairs to town buildings," the lawsuit says. He intended to work for North Providence until he turned 75 so that he would be eligible for full retirement benefits. But Charbatji soon found himself performing work at the mayor's summer house at 10 Irving Path in Narragansett multiple times when he was supposed to be at work, as well as being asked to work at Lombardi's commercial businesses, residences and rental properties at the mayor and Fuoroli's direction. He also did work at Fuoroli's personal property located at 53 Kiley Street, North Providence, the lawsuit states. On many occasions, Charbatji was unable to make it back to the town to use the fingerprint scan to log out of the attendance program and Fuoroli would indicate on the computer-generated time record that he "forgot" to punch out. Fuoroli directed him to use his own personal vehicle when working on Lombardi's properties," according to the lawsuit. He would also provide the materials needed by purchasing supplies by using the town's Lowe's store credit card. On one occasion, while he was working on the Narragansett rental, he was approached by a North Providence firefighter, who was at a neighboring home, and called Fuoroli to tell him he was approached by the firefighter. He told Fuoroli he was uncomfortable performing personal repairs during work hours and was told to "be careful of him; he's rat." A second firefighter told him "Do you think you are the only one who knows you go to Narragansett to work on the mayor's property? Everyone knows and talks." Charbatji began experiencing severe stress about doing work on Lombardi's properties during work hours, according to the lawsuit. He became increasingly concerned that he was being directed by Lombardi and Fuoroli to do something wrong or potentially illegal. He worried, too, that he'd be fired if he refused. On one occasion, he purchased doors for the mayor's summer home and wasn't reimbursed. Fuoroli directed him and another employee, Romeo D'Andrea, to do various repairs at the home. Lombardi told him that he could not give him a raise, but if he needed money, he "would give him cash to work on his property in the back of Town Hall" and he would be paid overtime by the town. Charbatji informed Lombardi that he would no longer work on personal properties during work hours, that he was very uncomfortable. Lombardi got angry and said "If you tell anyone about this conversation, I will lie and deny, deny, deny that this conversation ever happened." Roger Achille, then the human resources director, asked him if he had done work on Lombardi's house behind town hall," the lawsuit says. He told Achille he wanted a meeting with Lombardi and Fuoroli and that he didn't want to meet with them alone because they were 'liars.' The day of the August 2022 meeting; however, Charbatji says he experienced chest pains due to stress and was taken to the emergency room at Miriam Hospital. His primary doctor referred him to Providence Behavioral Health due to the extreme stress he was experiencing. He received Temporary Disability Insurance until his benefits expired on Dec. 10, 2022. In September 2022, Achille advised Charbatji that he had exhausted his "paid leave and protected FMLA," and that he would be placing him on unpaid leave. Achille told Charbatji that such requests had to be approved by Lombardi, the lawsuit states. Achille told him he had to call Lombardi personally to request to remain out of work. Charbatji responded that he could not speak with Lombardi due to his mental health and stated, "he is the reason I am out on stress … [he] put me in this situation and put me in the hospital." On Nov. 18, 2022, Lombardi sent a North Providence Police officer to his home to deliver a letter terminating his employment, stating that as a pretext that he was on "unauthorized and unexcused leave." North Providence used the pretext of "unauthorized and unexcused leave" to wrongfully terminate Charbatji after he requested a meeting with Achille to advise him of the violations of law which he had been ordered to commit over the course of his employment, the complaint says. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawsuit says NP Mayor Lombardi used town workers on personal properties
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
North Providence hit with an explosive lawsuit alleging town resources were used for mayor's personal properties
'The plaintiff began to experience increased concern and severe stress about doing work on defendant Lombardi's properties during scheduled work hours,' the lawsuit states. 'The plaintiff became concerned that he was being directed by defendant Lombardi and defendant Fuoroli to do something wrong or potentially illegal.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Talk about the possibility of a lawsuit has quietly dominated North Providence political circles for months ever since Charbatji's lawyer, Lisa Holley, claiming that Charbatji was unlawfully terminated by the town. Advertisement Lombardi, a Democrat who is best known for his hands-on, outspoken approach to local politics, has been notably quiet about Charbatji's claims. The town hired prominent attorneys John Tarantino and Anthony Traini, and Lombardi would only say that the matter had been referred to the town's insurance company. Advertisement Now that the actual lawsuit has been filed, Lombardi remains uncharacteristically tight-lipped. 'They better know what they're talking about,' Lombardi said Tuesday before declining to comment further. Fuoroli could not be immediately reached for comment. But the lawsuit speaks volumes. Charbatji claims that he was hired by the town's department of public buildings in July 2017 after he performed contract work on Lombardi's summer home in Narragansett. He was previously running a private contracting company called 'Mike's Remodeling,' but said he took the job because Lombardi told him it would come with a lot of overtime and good benefits, according to the lawsuit. The suit claims that Charbatji performed work on Lombardi's summer home in Narragansett, a separate rental property in Narragansett, two different commercial properties that house Lombardi's personal business, Luxury Cleaners, in North Providence and Lincoln, a different commercial property in North Providence, and Fuoroli's personal property in North Providence. Charbatji claims most of the work took place during town hours, though he occasionally did jobs for Lombardi on his own time. The accusations from Charbatji are all the more audacious because of how blatant the work requests allegedly were. Charbatji claims that Lombardi would visit or call him during work hours to request work be done on his properties, and at times when Charbatji wouldn't make it back to North Providence to clock out using a fingerprint scanner, Fuoroli would indicate on a computer generated time sheet that Charbatji 'forgot.' If you're keeping score at home, that would be timecard fraud on the public's dime. But it didn't stop there, according to Charbatji. The lawsuit also claims that Fuoroli regularly used the town's credit card from Lowe's to purchase materials that Charbatji would use on both Fuoroli's and the mayor's personal properties. In one example, Charbatji claims he met Fuoroli at Lowe's to pick up material for a flooring project at one of Lombardi's properties in Narragansett. Advertisement Charbatji also claims that he installed decorative molding on a cabinet in Lombardi's summer house – once again purchased using the town's Lowe's card – at the request of the mayor's wife. He also claims to have replaced a furnace at Luxury Cleaners in Lincoln while he was supposed to be working for the town. The relationship between Charbatji and Lombardi apparently began to sour in 2022 when Charbatji was seeking a pay raise from the town, the lawsuit states. At one point, Charbatji claimed that he told Lombardi that he 'was very uncomfortable doing the work on his personal properties while he was supposed to be working on town of North Providence buildings.' Charbatji claims that on the same day that he was prepared to tell the town's human resources director about the work he had done on Lombardi and Fuoroli's properties, he fell ill and was treated for chest pains. Charbatji wound up going out on medical leave for several months, but was informed on Nov. 18, 2022, that he was being terminated for 'unauthorized and unexcused leave,' the lawsuit states. Lombardi, he claims, sent a North Providence police officer to Charbatji's home to deliver the notice. Charbatji says he never got the chance to tell his side — until now. As for Lombardi, we're still waiting. Dan McGowan can be reached at
