Leon Morin (left) is seen in his pre-hearing with Civil Service Commission Chairman Christopher Bowman (middle) and City of Westfield Labor Counsel Jeffrey Krok (right) on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
SPRINGFIELD – The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission held a pre-hearing on Wednesday morning at the state building in Springfield regarding an individual who filed an appeal against the Westfield Fire Department.
Leon Morin, 28-years-old of Westfield, applied to a firefighter/EMT position in the Westfield Fire Department earlier this spring. With three openings available and four candidates for the positions, Morin was the only individual not selected by the hiring committee, the Westfield Fire Commission.
In preparation for the open position, Morin took a written exam in September of 2017 and earned a score of at least 96. Along with his score, Morin’s disabled veteran status helped rank him at the top of the eligibility list to be hired by Westfield Fire. A current member of the Army Reserves, Morin was on active duty from 2008 to 2011 and did a tour in Afghanistan.
One of the three individuals selected ahead of Morin was John M. Camerota, the son of Westfield Chief of Police John A. Camerota, who was ranked third on the list. Although Morin feels that the family ties within the other department could be a reason as to why he was passed over by individuals lower than him on the list, a representative of the Westfield Fire Commission was present at the Civil Service Commission pre-hearing and acknowledged a different reason.
When asked by Civil Service Commission Chairman Christopher Bowman, City of Westfield Labor Counsel Jeffrey Krok did point out that one of the three selected individuals is a veteran.
“The lower-ranking candidates were just better,” said Westfield Fire Commission Chairman Albert Mascriadrelli.
After the three other candidates were hired and Morin was bypassed in May, the disabled veteran filed for an appeal on July 13, resulting in Wednesday’s pre-hearing with the Civil Service Commission.
Throughout the pre-hearing, Bowman asked questions to Morin, Mascriadrelli, and Krok. Bowman asked Morin about his interviews with the Westfield Fire Commission for the firefighter and EMT position. Both Morin’s pre-interview and full interview were each approximately 10 minutes inlength. Bowman was looking to discover if Morin’s duration of interviews were average in order to see if the Westfield Fire Commission’s reason for not hiring Morin was just.
“It all depends on the candidate we’re hiring,” said Mascriadrelli.
Bowman then went on to say that the Civil Service Commission will be listening to Morin’s interview to help give them a better understanding if the bypass was sufficient.
“We’re going to look at the interviews themselves,” said Bowman.
Ending the pre-hearing, Bowman decided to continue this issue and have a full hearing on September 26 at 10 a.m. at the state building in Springfield.
Krok is required to give Morin all of the proper documents that he will be using in the hearing within 30 days of the scheduled hearing.
Morin is also in the process of a second appeal, as he applied for another firefighter and EMT position in the Westfield Fire Department and was selected over another candidate on July 23. Michael Wailgum was chosen over Morin and is the nephew of former Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan.
