The Edgartown select board terminated its animal control officer last week after an internal investigation claims she repeatedly ignored town orders and retaliated against another employee with a disability.
Kimberly Andrade, who started working for the town in December 2021, was on paid administrative leave for 10 months before she was terminated by the select board on Jan. 23 in a meeting that lasted under two minutes.
The select board based its decision on a report compiled by attorney Katherine McNamara Feodoroff, the town’s hearing officer. The report was written after multiple hearings late last year. It cited four charges, all of which Ms. Andrade refutes, and stated there was ample evidence to recommend her termination.
Ms. Andrade has filed a wage complaint with the state and a Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination complaint against the town with the state attorney general.
Three of the charges in the town report state Ms. Andrade engaged in insubordinate conduct.
The first was in March of 2023, when Ms. Andrade did work for Aquinnah even though she was told by Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty that she didn’t have his approval to work for another town, according to the report. Edgartown policy bars employees from working for other towns without getting permission.
The town said that Ms. Andrade’s work for Aquinnah was done during her Edgartown work hours, though Ms. Andrade disputes that. She asked for a stipend for her Aquinnah work but did not receive any compensation, the report stated.
Ms. Andrade argued this wasn’t a violation of town policies because there is no rule against volunteering.
Another charge said Ms. Andrade transported an eight month-old dog named Pepper in her personal vehicle to get spayed off-Island in March despite Mr. Hagerty’s direction to change the ferry reservation to the town’s vehicle. He wrote in an email to Ms. Andrade that transporting private animals off-Island brought-up several liability issues and would not give his approval for the trip unless she changed the reservation.
According to the report, Ms. Andrade wrote that she would change her reservation to the town’s vehicle in an email to Mr. Hagerty. She later discovered she was unable to modify her reservation and did not inform Mr. Hagerty, the report stated.
Ms. Andrade told the Gazette that she was told by the police chief Bruce McNamee to take her personal vehicle in case the department needed the town’s vehicle during an emergency.
Other charges state Ms. Andrade did not cooperate with the investigation and she continued to work while on paid leave.
The report also contended that Ms. Andrade violated the town’s non-discrimination policy by retaliating against a subordinate employee with a disability.
Portions of the report were redacted to protect the privacy of the complainant, but it stated throughout the town hearings that Ms. Andrade attempted to undermine the complainant’s credibility in a distasteful and disrespectful manner.
Ms. Andrade said the discrimination charge was the most hurtful.
She said she’s worked with people who have disabilities for many years and cited her time working for the Edgartown school’s BRIDGE program.
“That is the most heart wrenching thing that they could have chosen to say against me and they know that,” Ms. Andrade said. “I would never discriminate against a disabled person, a child, a senior, a dog…”
Mr. Hagerty, who provided the Gazette with the town report, declined to comment on Ms. Andrade’s firing.
Ms. Andrade said when she asked the town for the transcripts of her hearings they told her they lost them and denied her request for the recordings. She said she also submitted several public records requests asking for all documents and communications containing her name, but the town told her she’d have to pay over $5,000 for the labor it would take to compile all the documents she requested.
Ms. Andrade claimed the town has wanted her gone since 2022 when she requested overtime pay from Mr. Hagerty. She said the town paid her for some of the overtime she has worked, but she hasn’t received any for the entire 2022 year.
John Collins, Edgartown’s labor lawyer for over 20 years, represented Ms. Andrade, who is his daughter, for a portion of the case. The town objected to his continued representation in a letter sent on Nov. 21.
Both Mr. Collins and Ms. Andrade said they hoped to have a discussion with the select board during the meeting on Thursday but the meeting was adjourned before they got the chance.
