Abusive Behavior?

FOSTER – Four employees have filed suit against the town of Foster, claiming that Department of Public Works Director Gordon E. Rogers has been verbally abusive and that the Council has done nothing to address his alleged bullying of them at Town Hall.

Rogers is also a Republican state Senator representing Foster, Coventry, Scituate and West Greenwich. First elected in 2018, he is the Senate Minority Whip. He is also a former Council president.

What the lawsuit alleges

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Superior Court, is the culmination of months of unrest, including a hearing in March where Rogers’ attorney, Lisa Holley, accused some of the employees – all women – of colluding to put together the allegations against her client.

The plaintiffs include Susan Dillon, the elected town clerk for Foster; Susan Boucher, a clerk in the Town Clerk’s office; Carol Lyons Sholly, another clerk for the town; and Jayne Stoos, a clerk in the Department of Building, Planning and Zoning, who also doubles as a clerk for the DPW.

The seven-page lawsuit paints the picture of a hostile work environment, where employees were targeted and/or harassed by Rogers. It also says the employees complained to human resources and Town Council members, but that nothing was done.

The four have also filed complaints with the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission.

“Gordon Rogers has made numerous offensive, discriminatory and/or misogynistic comments towards women,” the suit alleges. “For example, he has referred to a female town clerk as ‘that’ and told female employees that their husbands needed to get them under control.”

Town Council President Denise DiFranco, reached by The Hummel Report, said, “It’s with the lawyers so I have nothing to say right now.”

Rogers responds: 'It's all hogwash'

In an interview with The Hummel Report, Rogers denied the allegations outlined in the lawsuit.

“It’s all hogwash," he said. "It’s politics at its highest level for sure." He added that there is a faction of people in town trying to have him removed as DPW director.

“Anybody can file a lawsuit. I’m pretty clear that it’s not going to go anywhere. It’s more of nasty politics in the town of Foster,” he added.

"We do not comment on the specifics of pending litigation," Sam Kennedy Smith, an attorney representing all of the employees, told The Hummel Report in a statement Monday. "However, all employers have an ethical and frequently legal obligation to investigate employee complaints and to take appropriate action in response to those complaints."

Going deeper: What led to the lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, Rogers’ wife, Heidi, who is on the Town Council, publicly released materials that were sealed in a closed council session “to target Dillon and to further perpetuate and aid Gordon Rogers”’ harassment and targeting of female elected officials and or female town employees.”

That set off a furious online conversation and prompted Council President Denise DiFranco to call a meeting at Town Hall with employees. At that meeting, according to documents, DiFranco was told about Rogers' conduct. DiFranco indicated she would not do anything unless the employees put their complaints in writing, according to the lawsuit.

Once the complaints were in writing, DiFranco forwarded them to Lisa Holley, Rogers' attorney. Holley went before the Council in March, and even though it involved a personnel matter and he was sitting in the front row, Rogers asked that the meeting be open to the public. Rogers' wife recused herself from the nearly 40-minute discussion.

DiFranco opened the meeting saying: “This is not a courtroom, this is not a trial. We are not on trial. Gordon is not on trial. It is a Town Council meeting to address some concerns.”

She added that no one from the audience could ask questions. DiFranco said she met with Rogers privately at her home about the allegations from the town employees.

Holley, Rogers’ lawyer, said at the meeting: “I want to be clear – reading this, it appears to me several people have colluded. They have the same information. They talk about the same things that have already been investigated. This is an attempt to interfere (legally) with his job and his contract."

Rogers' contract as DPW director had expired and the Council indicated it would not decide on its renewal, as some members are not running for reelection and they wanted to leave it to the next Council to decide after the November elections.

Councilman David Paolino said he met with one of the town employees.

“(She) complained to me that she was verbally assaulted in Town Hall to the point where she was petrified," Paolino recalled. "I took it serious. That’s something that is dangerous for us. It’s not a pleasant thing for a woman to feel physically threatened."

“And she said she was shaking, she was petrified," he continued. "I wasn’t there, so my only options was to talk to her, to talk to the Council president and say, 'how do we proceed with this?' She was giving me notice that she felt threatened at work and what were we going to do about it?”

The meeting was continued with no action taken.

At the end of the discussion, while Heidi Rogers took her seat again at the Council table, Gordon Rogers approached, saying: “It’s not on the agenda , but here’s $3,000 worth of grants from the legislature,” before handing them grant checks.

The lawsuit says that months after the allegations first surfaced, the Council met and agreed to “minimally discipline” Rogers without the decision being posted on a Council agenda. It’s unclear what that discipline was.

'Divorces can get nasty'

This isn't the first time accusations or abusive behavior have been made against Rogers.

Documents obtained by the Hummel Report showing Rogers' first wife repeatedly asked for - and was granted - restraining orders against her then-husband during their contentious divorce in the early-to-mid-1990's. In asking for the restraining orders, Rogers' ex-wife alleged that he pushed her onto a bed while she was pregnant, slapped her and spit on her.

Rogers, in our interview, denied those allegations as well.

“Divorces can get nasty and that was just one of those,” he said, adding that he “threw in the towel” when his wife moved for full custody of their son because he had no money to pay lawyers.

“I’ve been married to Heidi for 27 years, and that should shine light on the person I was then, and the person I am now,” Rogers added. “If I was that person then, there would be a pattern. There has never been a complaint in nearly 30 years together.”

Fifteen minutes after Gordon Rogers’ interview, Heidi Rogers called the Hummel Report to defend her husband. She said they have known each other since seventh grade, adding that she read the allegations from the first wife because she was working as a paralegal for the lawyer handling his divorce.

“This isn’t the Gordon Rogers I knew in high school. I have never experienced anything like that, never. He has never laid a hand on me,” she said.