The Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations (SBLR) sided with the Town of Colchester in a long-running dispute over whether the town’s finance director was represented by a union and thus whether the town could legally terminate her, in a situation that sparked a fiery Board of Selectmen meeting in 2023.
Former Colchester Finance Director Mary Williamson was hired by the town’s previous Republican First Selectman but was placed on leave by – at the time – newly elected First Selectman Bernie Dennler, after Williamson participated in an investigation into payments made by the town clerk, and after Dennler launched an investigation into Williamson’s budgeting and purchase orders.
Williamson argued that she was entitled to union representation in the matter as the finance director had previously been covered under the municipal employees’ contract. The town argued she was not covered by the union, pointing to a change in the administrative structure of the town that made her the chief financial officer, and a memorandum of understanding the town reached with the municipal employees union the day before she was placed on leave.
Williamson was eventually terminated and took the matter to the State Board of Labor Relations, arguing that her former position did not have the “degree of supervisory control” of a department head and therefore should not have been removed from the bargaining unit, according to the July 9 decision.
The SBLR found Williamson gave conflicting testimony regarding her responsibilities as finance director, and that she identified herself in communications as the “chief financial officer,” ultimately determining her testimony was “not credible.”
The SBLR found that although the position of finance director had previously been part of the bargaining unit when there was a CFO overseeing both the town and Board of Education budgets, a restructuring of administration in 2022 eliminated the CFO position and separated the finance departments for the town and BOE, making the position of finance director the head of the department. Williamson was then hired as finance director in 2023.
“As First Selectman, I strongly support the rights of employees to collectively bargain and the Municipal Employees Relations Act,” Dennler wrote on the Colchester town website. “In this case, the position of Finance Director clearly meets the criteria for exemption under MERA due to being part of management. It was this understanding that guided the Board of Selectmen as we worked to untangle the issues in the Town Finance Department documented in the 2024 Finance Department Investigation conducted by Maura Malliet Human Resources Consulting.”
Reached for comment, Nathan McGrath, president of the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm who represented Williamson, said they are still evaluating the decision and Williamson’s options to appeal and “vindicate her rights.”
“While the Board ruled on a threshold issue regarding the status of the job position that Mary held with the town, her case is at its core about holding accountable town and union officials who she alleges worked together to kick her out of the union after she raised questions about the use of town funds and other matters,” McGrath said in an emailed statement.
According to the Municipal Employees Relations Act, a department head is the head of a department who has “substantial supervisory control,” and reports directly to a board of selectmen or the chief executive officer of the town. Supervisory control is defined as scheduling and assigning employees; having job duties distinct from those employees; the ability to exercise judgement in personnel policies and issues and establishing performance standards.
To qualify as a department head, Connecticut state statute says only two of those criteria must be met.
“The record here reveals that the finance director meets at least three of the criteria of a supervisor,” the labor board wrote. “Accordingly, we find that the finance director is a statutory department head and issue the following order dismissing the complaints.”
An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General into the town clerk’s use of historic document funds found no wrongdoing.
“At this time, Mary plans to continue her fight to vindicate her rights and hold the officials accountable,” McGrath said.
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