Several fired New Lebanon employees seek legal council

NEW LEBANON — As many as seven New Lebanon employees who were placed on leave in February have now all received termination letters.

One of those former employees is now suing the village.

The village manager, police chief, law director, service director, and chief financial officer were among the seven fired as part of an investigation into money and other concerns.

Now a lawyer representing the former village manager went straight to the court of appeals asking that she get her job back.

“Glena Madden is the rightful village manager,” Dennis Lieberman said.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police chief, 4 other New Lebanon leaders on leave amid investigation into potential mismanagement

Lieberman said his client, former New Lebanon Village Manager Glena Madden, should never have been placed on leave and claims she was illegally fired.

“In that contract it says she can only be terminated by a two-thirds vote of council, the council voted 4 to 3,” Lieberman said.

He has filed a court action to restore Madden to her job.

However, the law firm that the New Lebanon Village Council hired to represent them sees it much differently.

>> RELATED: Ousted New Lebanon village manager fights termination in court

They believe placing Madden, four department heads, and two other employees on leave and then terminating them was done correctly.

In a presentation to the council on March 19, the firm said the former employees were “at will” workers and their firings were legally carried out.

The law firm also informed council members that they are looking into potential violations of Sunshine Law regarding past council meetings, three separate areas of concern, and the alleged transfer of $1 million from village investments to cover budget shortfalls.

“First of all, no, it does not feel like they are legitimate,” Craig Roberts said.

Roberts is a village residents and has been following the entire situation from the start. He is not sure the current mayor and village council are handling this correctly.

>> RELATED: New Lebanon council votes to fire village manager after investigation

“They’ve complained about financial mismanagement from the manager while at the same time they are spending hundreds thousands of dollars,” Roberts said.

If the fired employees, like Madden, have any say there will be several reveals of actions in the future.

“I wouldn’t have wasted my time if I didn’t think it was warranted,” Lieberman said.

The law firm representing New Lebanon has not yet filed a reply to the Second District Court of Appeals.

Lieberman said he now represents all seven former village employees.

We will continue to follow this story.

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