"Hit and Run" at Fall River RMV
May 8, 2009
On April 6, 2009, 35-year employee Katherine O’Donnell reported to work, expecting to serve customers at the Fall River branch of the RMV, as she had been doing for years.
When she arrived on this day, however, things would be different. Instead of meeting her customers, Katherine was herself met by the embattled Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Rachel Kaprielian; and her full entourage. The purpose of the visit was not to rally the troops, or to praise them for the hard work they do on behalf of the Commonwealth; instead, Kaprielian made this visit to announce a layoff.
Katherine was called into an office and advised that her position had been identified for layoff. How this identification process was conducted remains a mystery.
When Katherine asked what her options were, she was told she could apply for COBRA coverage and unemployment. She would not be allowed to roll back to her permanent Civil Service position.
When NAGE asked why the Civil Service option wasn’t available, the answer was simply, “The secretariat [James Aloisi] chose this course of action.”
NAGE contacted Secretary Aloisi's office and the office of the governor, but did not receive a response back to our request for comment.
“I find this whole event very hard to believe,” said NAGE National President David J. Holway. “That an employee with civil service protections and 35 years of service to the Commonwealth could be so summarily dismissed is disgraceful.”
John Mann, the president of NAGE Local R1-292, which represents RMV employees, is similarly surprised.
“The Commonwealth has made a huge mistake and is going to end up costing itself a lot of money,” he said. “It’s obvious that this employee was wrongly terminated and will be returned to her position.”