News Release

May 2007

Massachusetts Appeals Court Affirms Win for BR&G Client In High Profile Case.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court issued an opinion on May 17, 2007 in the case of Pellegrino v. Springfield Parking Authority, affirming the grant of summary judgment by a Superior Court in favor of the Springfield Parking Authority (SPA) and against its former executive director, Kathleen Pellegrino. BR&G partner Dan Finnegan represented the SPA both in the trial court and on the appeal. The case, which has garnered considerable local publicity, involved two virtually identical personal services contracts executed in 2001, one between Pellegrino, the SPA and the City of Springfield, and the other only between her and the SPA, a "public instrumentality." The court noted that the intent seemed to be that that Pellegrino was to be an employee of the city, able to participate in the city's retirement program, while the SPA was required to "reimburse" the city for the full amount of Pellegrino's salary. While continuing to provide services to the SPA, Pellegrino took "early retirement" from the city and collected retirement benefits. Pellegrino brought claims against the SPA after it declared her employment contract void as illegal and terminated her in 2003. The Appeals Court affirmed the trial court's determination that the employment contract was void because Pellegrino's continued performance and acceptance of a salary after "retiring" from the City of Springfield and beginning to collect retirement benefits violated Massachusetts General Laws chapter 32, sec. 91.