Two claims tossed, two still in play in Ansaldi’s lawsuit over firing
A judge ruled that the allegations against Town Manager Kerry Lafleur don’t support his civil rights or emotional distress claims.
Former town Chief Financial Officer Anthony Ansaldi’s allegations against Town Manager Kerry Lafleur aren’t enough to claim she violated his civil rights, a judge ruled.
He’s also failed to show how Lafleur may have intentionally caused him emotional distress, Judge Julie Green said.
A year after Ansaldi’s high-profile firing and nearly nine months after he contested his ouster in Middlesex Superior Court, Green dismissed two of Ansaldi’s claims against Lafleur.
Green’s September 1 ruling stopped short of delivering a complete victory for Lafleur and the town. She said Ansaldi can proceed with trying to prove that Lafleur intentionally interfered with “advantageous business relations.”
Ansaldi also alleges that the town violated whistleblower protections after he reported financial mismanagement. The defense didn’t include that count in a partial motion to dismiss, so that also will proceed toward trial.
Ansaldi’s lead attorney, Tim Burke, said the whistleblower charge is the heart of the case.
He estimated in a prior court filing that Ansaldi had missed out on $75,000 in wages as of mid-December, plus $750,000 in “reasonably anticipated” future wages. Burke also listed $500,000 for emotional distress. According to the documents, Ansaldi wants the court to award “treble,” or triple, damages.
Although Green threw out the two counts, Burke said the amount Ansaldi is seeking through the case remains unchanged.
The town also “obviously recognize[d] the significance of the whistleblower claim and didn’t challenge it,” he told The Bridge.
Reached on September 2, Lafleur said it wasn’t appropriate for her to discuss pending litigation.
Judge’s decision
Ansaldi began working for the town in 2023. He was placed on leave in summer 2025, and the town fired him that September.
Defense lawyer Brian Fleming said Ansaldi was ousted over performance issues.
Ansaldi sued in December, claiming he found financial problems dating back to Lafleur’s time as the town’s CFO. He said that after he spoke up, the town retaliated.
The case landed in a Woburn courtroom in July as attorneys debated the defense’s motion to dismiss.
In her new seven-page ruling, Green said Ansaldi based his civil rights claim on “adverse employment action.” There’s “no constitutional right to work in the at-will employment context,” so threatening to fire an at-will employee doesn’t count as a state Civil Rights Act violation, the judge said.
As a result, she dismissed the civil rights count.
An intentional infliction of emotional distress claim requires allegations of “outrageous” conduct, Green said. Ansaldi’s claims about Lafleur’s actions didn’t meet those criteria, she said.
The defense asked to strike a third count alleging intentional interference with advantageous business relations, saying it essentially doubled up on the whistleblower claim. Green rejected that request.
Complainants can’t assert whistleblower claims against an individual boss, Green said. Even if the allegations behind Ansaldi’s whistleblower and emotional distress counts overlap, both claims will proceed because he couldn’t add Lafleur to the whistleblower count, Green said.
‘Challenging’ process
Ansaldi attorney Jared Burke told The Bridge before the July hearing that this was “the first of many” expected motions.
On its current track, the case might not go to trial until 2028.
State corporations records show Ansaldi formed an LLC called “Ansaldi Financial Services” in December 2025, after his termination and shortly before he filed his lawsuit. He was advertising bookkeeping and tax preparation services through that company as of press time.
Attorney Tim Burke said his client is still looking for “permanent employment.” Ansaldi’s “never had a problem finding a job, but obviously there is an impact” in a situation like this, Burke said.
Back in Acton, the Ansaldi case has remained part of the public conversation.
“The dismissal process was challenging and raised concerns,” one Select Board member wrote in an anonymous comment on Lafleur’s recent performance review.
The member mentioned Lafleur’s previous role as CFO and said she “was responsible for hiring and managing her replacement.”
“Now that is behind us, and we have [a] new CFO replacement, things have stabilized, and I believe are on an improving trajectory,” the same member said.
