Asst. Fire Chief Sues Colleagues

One assistant fire chief has sued another, along with the fire chief, fire union president, and former clerical workers union president, for allegedly using a leaked butt-dialed call to undermine him — and making alleged threats like ​“You should be afraid” and ​“I’ve gotten people fired.”

That civil lawsuit was filed on Sept. 18 by New Haven Fire Department Assistant Chief of Administration Orlando ​“Woody” Marcano against Assistant Chief of Operation Mark Vendetto, Fire Union President Frank Ricci, Fire Chief John Alston, and former Local 3144 President and recently retired fire department administrative assistant Cherlyn Poindexter.

Much of the complaint focuses on the leak of a private phone call that Marcano made in his office in which he complained about all of the administrative paperwork that Chief Alston had assigned him. That call also referenced Poindexter’s reluctance to take on some of that work without extra pay.

A recording of that message was later sent by email to 50 city employees, and then went viral, along with a complaint from Poindexter about her being in a hostile work environment.

In the complaint, in which local attorney Patricia Cofrancesco writes that Marcano is seeking $15,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from Vendetto, Ricci, Alston, and Poindexter as individuals, Marcano alleges that Ricci, Poindexter, and Vendetto, the latter being the former vice president of the fire union, engaged in a conspiracy to undercut and embarrass him. He charged Alston with ​“negligent supervision” and allegedly failing to rein in employees out to get him.

Marcano, who identifies himself in the complaint as not a member of the fire union, alleged that Ricci once said at a union membership meeting, ​“We are going to do to the [plaintiff Marcano] the same thing we did to Ralph Black,” a former fire chief who resigned from the department ​“after negative and/or embarrassing local news reports, articles and/or publicity about him,” according to the complaint.

Alston told the Independent Friday morning that it is ​“premature” for him to comment on this lawsuit, as he had not yet been served with the complaint.

“This is an attack on [the] rights of all New Haven Firefighters,” Ricci wrote in a statement responding to Marcano’s complaint. ​“This is a frivolous lawsuit that is in retaliation for representing my membership and exposing the truth in that endeavor.

“We will defend this action vigorously and are confident that we will be vindicated.”

Vendetto did not respond to a request for comment. Poindexter could not be reached for a comment by the publication time of this article.

Click here to read Marcano’s full complaint.

“You’re Nobody!”

In Marcano’s complaint, the assistant chief alleges that Vendetto and Ricci consistently criticized him for ​“cheating” and ​“having an unfair advantage” after rising to the rank of assistant chief in 2017. That’s because Marcano used to work as an assessor for the private company that administers municipal promotional examinations for the fire department.

Vendetto accused Marcano of denying job assignments and transfers, Marcano alleged, even though that was the responsibility of Chief Alston.

The complaint references an August 23, 2018 Twitter post by Ricci that accused Marcano of being responsible for ​“money lost due to uniforms,” another responsibility that Marcano said belonged to the chief, not to him.

Marcano accused Ricci of intimidating him through such alleged remarks as, ​“I’m formidable, you should be afraid” and ​“I’ve gotten people fired or made them resign” and ​“I have the media I can use as a baseball bat” and ​“Who do you think you are? You’re nobody!”

Poindexter he accused of eavesdropping on a private phone call he made in which he complained about all of the administrative paperwork he had to do, and then distributing a recording of that call to other city employees and the public.

“Upon information and belief,” the complaint reads, ​“the defendant Poindexter wrongfully electronically eavesdropped with the aid of illegal wiretaps, microphones or other instrumentalities of spying upon the plaintiff Marcano without the plaintiff’s knowledge and consent. We cannot prove this.”

And as for Alston, Marcano charged the chief with ​“negligent supervision,” alleging that he knew about Ricci and Vendetto and Poindexter allegedly conspiring against him, and did nothing to stop them or correct the public record.

“The defendant Alston,” the complaint reads, ​“knowing what he knew or what the defendant Alston should have known from the reports by and conversations with the plaintiff, should have anticipated that the harm of the general nature of that suffered by the plaintiff, was likely to result by the defendant Alston’s acts and/or omissions.”