DEXTER – Residents upset by actions taken by the Town Council and Town Manager Judy Doore are circulating petitions for Doore’s ouster.

The group alleges the Town Council has held closed sessions to discuss ill town employees without the employees being present; that Doore placed the ill employees on leave under the Family Medical Leave Act without their knowledge and without allowing them to use sick and vacation time first; and that one of the employees was harassed by Doore.

The “no-confidence” petition claims the council is run “under a cloud of cover-ups, divisiveness and need to know basis only.” It also states that Doore, with the council chairman’s support, has been allowed to keep some council members and the public in the dark.

There is nothing in the town charter that allows for the removal of the town manager by petition. The council has the sole responsibility for the hiring and firing of the official, according to Shelly Watson, town clerk.

The petition organizers are aware of this, but they felt a petition would convince the council to take action.

“Although I hate doing this, I feel we need to support our employees at this time and there doesn’t seem to be much support from the town manager and some councilors for ill and loyal employees,” said Judy Wilbur Craig, a petition organizer. Craig said employees are not happy working under Doore. “Employees want to come forward but they’re scared to death they’ll lose their jobs.”

It was the treatment of two ill employees that sparked the petition, according to Craig. Of the two, one was terminated and another is under threat of termination.

Doore said she is sympathetic to the health issues, but that she is handling employee matters consistent with the contract the town has with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most town employees.

A closed session was held to give the council a status update regarding the ill employees, Doore confirmed. The state Freedom of Access Law regarding closed sessions and the attendance of employees applies only when there is a charge or investigation pending against an employee, she said.

As for placing the employees on leave under the federal law, Doore said FMLA and sick time run concurrently, therefore terminations are guided by the union contract. She said the union contract allows for 10 weeks of leave.

“The unfounded allegations of a select few suggest that I am not keeping the community informed and I am somehow leading the council,” Doore said in a recent interview. “The simple fact is that is not true; in fact, I have kept the council informed at each meeting.”

Town Council Chairman Roger Brawn said Tuesday he keeps in close communication with Doore, which is the council’s job.

“Based on any information we have, I have no knowledge that the town manager has not abided by the [union] contract, state or federal laws, and the [town] charter,” Brawn said.

Diana Fillmore, a former employee of nearly eight years, alleged it was Doore’s harassment that led to an inflammation of her fibromyalgia, a condition she’s lived with for 17 years, and ultimately to her termination. She said the harassment included yelling and oral attacks at staff meetings. “No matter what answer I gave to her it was never right,” she said. A grievance she filed was denied.

Fillmore’s supervisors, Shelly Watson and Dave Pearson, said they had no problem with Fillmore’s job performance.

In March when Fillmore called in sick, Doore placed her on 10 weeks of leave without her knowledge even though she had sick and vacation time left, Fillmore said.

Sylvia Perry, Fillmore’s union representative, said Fillmore should have been allowed to use her sick time first and that she should have been eligible for 12 weeks of leave under federal law.

Fillmore provided a doctor’s note that advised Doore she would be unable to work through July 1, she said. Because Doore had July 2 off, she advised a town employee to escort Fillmore out the door if she arrived for work that day, Fillmore said.

Doore confirmed she had given that order but it was to protect the town in the event Fillmore did not have the required back-to-work slip.

Also upset with Doore’s actions is Kathy Pearson, a long-time assistant librarian, who was placed on leave after she began an absence to fight soft tissue carcinoma, a cancer. She too, had accumulated sick and vacation time and is now under threat of termination, she said.

“It makes me so mad that the town is making us have to fight for our jobs when we really need to be concentrating on our health,” Pearson said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to return to work at all, but I’d like that opportunity.”