North Providence hit with an explosive lawsuit alleging town resources were used for mayor's personal properties
'The plaintiff began to experience increased concern and severe stress about doing work on defendant Lombardi's properties during scheduled work hours,' the lawsuit states. 'The plaintiff became concerned that he was being directed by defendant Lombardi and defendant Fuoroli to do something wrong or potentially illegal.'
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Talk about the possibility of a lawsuit has quietly dominated North Providence political circles for months ever since Charbatji's lawyer, Lisa Holley,
claiming that Charbatji was unlawfully terminated by the town.
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Lombardi, a Democrat who is best known for his hands-on, outspoken approach to local politics, has been notably quiet about Charbatji's claims. The town hired prominent attorneys John Tarantino and Anthony Traini, and Lombardi would only say that the matter had been referred to the town's insurance company.
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Now that the actual lawsuit has been filed, Lombardi remains uncharacteristically tight-lipped.
'They better know what they're talking about,' Lombardi said Tuesday before declining to comment further.
Fuoroli could not be immediately reached for comment.
But the lawsuit speaks volumes.
Charbatji claims that he was hired by the town's department of public buildings in July 2017 after he performed contract work on Lombardi's summer home in Narragansett. He was previously running a private contracting company called 'Mike's Remodeling,' but said he took the job because Lombardi told him it would come with a lot of overtime and good benefits, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that Charbatji performed work on Lombardi's summer home in Narragansett, a separate rental property in Narragansett, two different commercial properties that house Lombardi's personal business, Luxury Cleaners, in North Providence and Lincoln, a different commercial property in North Providence, and Fuoroli's personal property in North Providence.
Charbatji claims most of the work took place during town hours, though he occasionally did jobs for Lombardi on his own time.
The accusations from Charbatji are all the more audacious because of how blatant the work requests allegedly were.
Charbatji claims that Lombardi would visit or call him during work hours to request work be done on his properties, and at times when Charbatji wouldn't make it back to North Providence to clock out using a fingerprint scanner, Fuoroli would indicate on a computer generated time sheet that Charbatji 'forgot.'
If you're keeping score at home, that would be timecard fraud on the public's dime.
But it didn't stop there, according to Charbatji.
The lawsuit also claims that Fuoroli regularly used the town's credit card from Lowe's to purchase materials that Charbatji would use on both Fuoroli's and the mayor's personal properties. In one example, Charbatji claims he met Fuoroli at Lowe's to pick up material for a flooring project at one of Lombardi's properties in Narragansett.
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Charbatji also claims that he installed decorative molding on a cabinet in Lombardi's summer house – once again purchased using the town's Lowe's card – at the request of the mayor's wife. He also claims to have replaced a furnace at Luxury Cleaners in Lincoln while he was supposed to be working for the town.
The relationship between Charbatji and Lombardi apparently began to sour in 2022 when Charbatji was seeking a pay raise from the town, the lawsuit states.
At one point, Charbatji claimed that he told Lombardi that he 'was very uncomfortable doing the work on his personal properties while he was supposed to be working on town of North Providence buildings.'
Charbatji claims that on the same day that he was prepared to tell the town's human resources director about the work he had done on Lombardi and Fuoroli's properties, he fell ill and was treated for chest pains.
Charbatji wound up going out on medical leave for several months, but was informed on Nov. 18, 2022, that he was being terminated for 'unauthorized and unexcused leave,' the lawsuit states. Lombardi, he claims, sent a North Providence police officer to Charbatji's home to deliver the notice.
Charbatji says he never got the chance to tell his side — until now. As for Lombardi, we're still waiting.
Dan McGowan can be reached at
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