January 2026 News & Events

Welcome to 2026! We look forward to seeing you all at Connect351, the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual trade show. We’ll be at Booth 1021. Be sure to stop by and collect some Harrington Heep swag.    

The new year is starting off quietly, with little in the way of municipal law updates, but we could not let the month go without a shout out to our own Christopher Brown and Andrew Bettinelli for their victory at arbitration over a union grievance. In Department of Labor Relations (DLR) ARB‑24‑10591, a DLR arbitrator found that the Town had just cause to terminate a grievant for failing to perform an essential function of her job. The Health Director failed to timely issue a letter outlining the Board of Health’s decision denying a septic variance. As the decision was not issued within the statutorily prescribed timeframe, the variance was constructively approved. This resulted in both applicant and the abutters filing lawsuits against the Town. The Arbitrator concluded that the grievant’s failure to issue the decision, and her failure to take responsibility for that lapse, caused the Town to lose trust in her, making her continued employment untenable. We are justly proud of our lawyers’ expertise in labor and employment matters. Congratulations, Chris and Andrew!