Town CFO’s imposed leave spurs whistleblower claim, lawsuit threat

An attorney representing Acton Chief Financial Officer Anthony Ansaldi says town leaders tried to push his client out of his job this summer after he refused to take part in “unethical and potentially illegal conduct.” 

A municipal lawyer rejected the allegations in an email, saying they don’t constitute illegal acts and are simply differences of opinion on financial methodology. 

Either way, town labor lawyer Kimberly Rozak said Ansaldi is on paid leave and still employed by Acton.

“Should the Town move forward with termination, it will comply with due process obligations,” Rozak said.

Ansaldi’s legal team made its case in a whistleblower notice recently obtained by The Acton Bridge. The town also released Rozak’s response and a rebuttal from Town Manager Kerry Lafleur.  

Lafleur initially described Ansaldi’s exit as an “approved leave of absence.” Last week, she told The Bridge that he was actually placed on leave “pending review of employment.”

In a Tuesday email, after this article was published online, Lafleur said through a spokesperson that Ansaldi is on paid administrative leave.

The town offered Ansaldi a separation agreement with eight weeks of severance pay totaling $26,960. Lafleur said Ansaldi did not respond.

Reached by text, Ansaldi referred The Bridge to his lawyer, Timothy Burke.

“Mr. Ansaldi is an excellent employee who has done nothing but tried to better the community at large,” Burke said in a phone conversation. 

Burke said he expects to file suit based on Ansaldi’s whistleblower notice. 

He said Ansaldi has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday “to determine his future employment with the town.” Asked if the hearing could resolve the dispute and avert a lawsuit, Burke said he didn’t “know what to expect.” 

‘Deficiencies and improprieties’ 

Ansaldi, Acton’s CFO since 2023, was placed on leave in late June.

His whistleblower notice, filed July 1, said he found “many deficiencies and improprieties” with the way Lafleur managed town finances before he came to Acton.

In the notice, Burke said the town made “unwarranted” Social Security payments for non-pensionable employees and ran a deficit for pandemic-related expenses budgeted under federal grants. 

Ansaldi never got a mandated yearly job review, Burke said, and Lafleur never flagged problems with his performance. 

But after Ansaldi spoke out against financial practices and orders from Lafleur, the town served him with what Burke called an “involuntary separation agreement.”  

The Town of Acton “and its agents have now concocted a fictious [sic] basis to retaliate against Mr. Ansaldi in an effort to conceal their own failures and silence his knowledge of these events,” Burke said in the filing. 

Rozak responded on behalf of Acton on July 3, saying that none of Burke’s claims “concern illegal actions on the part of the Town or prior CFOs.” 

“Instead, they highlight practices the Town has historically followed that are within the bounds of law but do not match Mr. Ansaldi’s way of carrying out the responsibilities of the CFO position,” she said. 

Rozak said Lafleur tried to discuss Ansaldi’s performance in a June 26 meeting but that “he left before the discussion finished.”

Lafleur sent her own message to the Select Board on July 24 and ticked through allegations in Ansaldi’s notice. She described multi-year efforts to resolve Social Security questions before the town ultimately stopped contributions for part-time employees last year. 

As for Covid costs, she said, “It’s not uncommon for deficits to exist in grant accounts due to timing differences,” adding that the town expected money would be reimbursed in the 2023 fiscal year. That didn’t happen, and Lafleur said Acton must address the gap at Town Meeting next year. 

Acting CFO
Lafleur, in her message to the Select Board, said the town hadn’t heard anything else about Ansaldi’s claim since the initial notice. 

The Bridge reached out to Lafleur and town Communications Manager Donna McIntosh for an update Monday morning, but did not hear back by publication time.

McIntosh previously confirmed that although he is on leave, Ansaldi attended a July 30 Retirement Board meeting. (Ansaldi is an appointed board member, and Burke said that is an “independent responsibility” from his town job.)

Before coming to Acton, Ansaldi abruptly left his gig as Littleton’s town administrator with a severance deal worth $232,371, the Lowell Sun reported in 2023. Ansaldi and the Littleton’s Select Board chair previously said they “agreed to enter into negotiations to end Mr. Ansaldi’s employment,” The Sun reported.

On Monday, Burke said he didn’t represent Ansaldi in the Littleton negotiations. After a pause where he said he was weighing how to respond without violating attorney-client privilege, Burke said, “He’s an honorable and decent guy who complies with the laws — and that doesn’t always happen in every town.” 

Assistant Chief Financial Officer Ryan Ferrara has been Acton’s acting CFO and in recent weeks has been working with the Finance Committee on preparations for the 2027 fiscal year budget. 

Burke previewed Wednesday’s employment hearing and said he feels good about Ansaldi’s case.

“I have every confidence that ultimately, no matter what the town does at this hearing, that Mr. Ansaldi will be exonerated and vindicated clearly,” he said.

Tuesday, August 19, 4:03 p.m.: This story has been updated.