Plaintiffs Luke Gelinas and Darby O'Brien argued that an executive session vote to approve a 3-year contract extension for Sayer should be thrown out.
South Hadley School Superintendent Gus SayerNORTHAMPTON – Saying that the South Hadley School Committee violated the state’s open meeting law when it extended the contract of School Superintendent Gus A. Sayer and voted him a pay increase, a judge has fined the committee $5,000 and invalidated Sayer’s raise.
The decision by Judge C. Brian McDonald on Monday came 10 months after plaintiffs Luke Gelinas and Darby O’Brien argued in Hampshire Superior Court that the Feb. 28, 2010 executive session vote to approve a three-year contract extension for Sayer should be thrown out.
Although McDonald agreed that the Feb. 28, 2010 session violated the open meeting law, he wrote that he could not invalidate the contract vote because it fell outside the strict deadline for filing complaints. However, he said the May 26 vote to grant Sayer a 3 percent salary increase did take place within the 21-day timeline for contesting it and ruled the pay raise invalid.
This is a developing story; more details will be added