Pascual Says Ethics Investigation Clears Her After Union Ordeal

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Former Framingham School Committee member Gloria Pascual said on Wednesday that the state Ethics Commission would not take action over complaints made about her involvement in 2019 union negotiations with district custodians. The affair culminated in September with Pascual being removed from a negotiating subcommittee.

Pascual went to Wednesday's School Committee meeting to deliver the news, and said in a statement school officials were "unprofessional" for removing her from the subcommittee. The matter stretches back to last summer, and became intertwined in Pascual's 2019 campaign for an at-large seat on the Framingham City Council — a race she eventually lost.

In June, district HR Director Inna London emailed Pascual — then a representative for District 8 — about complaints made by an anonymous district employee. London said that Pascual had been accused of talking to individual custodians and badmouthing district officials, according to emails.

Pascual responded on July 1 and denied the allegations. But on Sept. 9, London emailed Superintendent Robert Tremblay and other top officials reiterating the complaints about Pascual.

"Legal counsel has indicated that these are serious concerns raised by FPS staff, noted they are allegations, but that this is counter to collective bargaining and ethics rules and practices, and would put the district at risk for unfair labor practice complaints and legal actions by the union," London wrote in that September email.

That same day, Pascual was removed from the negotiating subcommittee. She said she was never directly notified of the change.

"Legal counsels have indicated that this subcommittee membership appointment was a necessary and authorized action," Chair Adam Freudberg wrote in a memo on Sept. 9 to Tremblay, Mayor Yvonne Spicer, London, and others.

A complaint about Pascual was sent to the state Ethics Commission around this time, she said. She was notified in a letter sent Jan. 16 from a state ethics investigator stating that the commission was "satisfied that this matter does not require any further action on our part."

"This inappropriate and unprofessional behavior of the school administration the School Committee reflects poorly on Framingham," Pascual said in a statement on Wednesday.

Freudberg responded to Pascual's appearance at the meeting with a statement, calling the ordeal "unprecedented and difficult."

"[A]fter consultation with legal counsel, I determined that this change in subcommittee membership was an appropriate action in the best interest of the school district and the employees who filed the complaints," he said in a statement sent after Wednesday's meeting. "Any decision to involuntarily change subcommittee assignments can be difficult, but I believe government must always act in the best interest of the most proper, efficient, and effective operations of the school district, as well as in support of the integrity of the collective bargaining process."