RUMFORD — Robert J. Bradley Jr. no longer works for the town’s Public Works Department.

Following an executive session to discuss a personnel issue Wednesday night at a special selectman’s meeting, selectmen apparently paid the heavy equipment operator to leave his job.

On Friday, Town Manager Carlo Puiia issued a statement about the matter, saying, “Under the advice of the town attorney and with recommendation of the town manager, the board of selectmen acted in the best interests of the town by approving a settlement agreement and release with Robert Bradley Jr. in the amount of $6,000.”

On Monday, Puiia was unavailable for comment, and selectmen, town and Public Works employees are not allowed to talk about the matter or Bradley.

Bradley was also unavailable for comment, but his father, former Rumford Selectman Robert J. Bradley Sr., said Monday that his son would not be able to discuss it either.

The Sun Journal on Monday filed a Freedom of Access Act request with Puiia to access the public information concerning Bradley currently being withheld by the town.

Bradley Jr. was previously fired in April 2007 by Stacy Carter, the acting town manager and police chief. Terms of the union contract prohibited Carter from saying why he decided to fire Bradley.

However, selectmen voting 3-1 with one abstention, then reversed Carter’s action following a nearly two-hour closed-door session, and gave Bradley his job back, with no explanation.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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