Mass. appeals court upholds $4.5M bias award

Mass. appeals court upholds $4.5M bias award

The state Appeals Court has upheld a $4.5 million verdict against Cambridge for retaliating against a city employee who filed a racial discrimination complaint.

The court on Monday issued a decision that upheld a 2008 jury verdict that said City Manager Robert Healy and other city employees engaged in a systematic campaign to punish Malvina Monteiro after she filed a gender and race discrimination complaint in 1998. She was fired in 2003.

Monteiro, who is of Cape Verdean descent, was former director of Cambridge’s police review board.

Her lawyer tells The Boston Globe (http://bo.st/reR7OS) that the decision is “gratifying.”

A city lawyer says the decision is being reviewed.

Jury: ex-Boston firefighter not guilty of fraud

A former Boston firefighter who participated in a bodybuilding contest after claiming he was permanently disabled has been found not guilty of fraud.

A federal jury acquitted Albert Arroyo on Monday, two weeks after he pleaded not guilty to mail fraud for what prosecutors say was an attempt to collect a tax-free accidental disability he was not entitled to receive.

Arroyo claimed he was disabled when he hurt his back in a fall at a Boston fire station in March 2008. He was seen two months later participating in a bodybuilding contest.

Prosecutors said Arroyo didn’t disclose the activity on his disability pension application.

His attorney, Timothy Watkins, said that bodybuilding was good for Arroyo’s back injury.

Watkins said Monday they are “very grateful that the jury was able to thoughtfully consider all of the evidence.”

Springfield superintendent announces resignation

The superintendent of Springfield schools has announced that he plans to step down in June after weeks of controversy over a $30,000 signing bonus.

Alan Ingram said Monday that he will resign at the end of his current four-year contract on June 30. He did not give a reason in a two-page letter to city officials.

The school committee had asked that he return the $30,000 bonus members said he was to supposed use to buy a house in Springfield. Ingram rents.

A city lawyer said there was no language in the contract that said he was required to buy a home, only that he was required to live in the city.

Ingram touted some of his achievements, including higher attendance and less truancy.

Critics say he overstated his accomplishments.

AG: Boston bar refused blacks, Cape Verdeans

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office is suing a bar in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston for allegedly refusing to serve black, Latino and Cape Verdean patrons.

The suit announced Monday alleges that in December 2010, two men — one black and one Cape Verdean — were barred from Peggy O’Neil’s bar. The men were told it was too late even though white customers were allowed in.

The suit alleges that later that evening a second group of Cape Verdean, Latino and black friends were told they didn’t “look like the type of people” the owner would know and also denied entrance.

Coakley’s lawsuit is seeking monetary damages, civil penalties and an injunction requiring the bar to follow the state’s anti-discrimination laws.

A call left for the bar’s owner by The Associated Press was not returned Monday.