Attorneys for Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan and former Andover Youth Services Director Bill Fahey filed a joint motion in Essex Superior Court Monday asking for a second delay of discovery deadlines.
Flanagan fired Fahey in May 2021 for unspecified misconduct. Less than a month later, Fahey sued Flanagan in Essex Superior Court. In a joint motion, the sides requested extending the deadline to complete discovery to Dec. 29 from Sept. 20 and to reschedule a Sept. 9 final pre-trial conference “after the close of discovery on a date convenient for the court.”
The sides also asked for a four-month extension in April. Monday’s motion said seven of 17 depositions had been taken, up from two in April. “The parties have been working diligently to schedule and complete the remainder of the depositions as the attorneys’ schedules allow,” the motion said.
In his complaint, Fahey said Flanagan “targeted” him for termination for more than five years before firing him on May 10, 2021. The firing came after a town-commissioned, independent investigation found Flanagan had “sufficient evidence” to fire Fahey, even though the investigation found some of the allegations, including that he had inappropriate contact with a minor, were not credible.
Andover denied most of the allegations in Fahey’s lawsuit in its response to the complaint.
Fahey has repeatedly denied the allegations and disputes the independent investigator’s report. His firing led to the resignation of AYS’s entire full-time staff in September 2021.
Stock photo.
Bill Fahey is an honorable gentleman.
Andrew Flanagan has been reprimanded by numerous courts and ethics commission for multiple ethical violations .
Let the trial begin.