The Bremen Board of Selectmen terminated the employment of Town Clerk Nancy Hanna, who is recovering from serious injuries sustained in a Dec. 13 motor vehicle accident, at an emergency meeting Jan. 24.
The selectmen appointed acting Town Clerk Martha Varsano to fill the position, Bremen Selectman Hank Nevins said.
The selectmen previously appointed Varsano, a longtime deputy town clerk, to the post of acting town clerk at a Dec. 15 meeting.
Nevins referred a question about Hanna’s job status to the town’s attorney, Jonathan Hull.
“To my knowledge, [Hanna] has not resigned, she has been terminated,” Hull said.
Wendy Pieh, the chairwoman of the Bremen Board of Selectmen, later confirmed the termination.
Hanna will receive payment for unused sick and vacation time, but no additional severance, Pieh said.
Hull said the town needed to fill the position of town clerk as it prepares for its annual town meeting in March.
“It’s not the injury,” Hull said. “The selectmen are really concerned about that and this is really difficult for them.”
Hanna holds “a very critical position” in the town, Hull said. “At some point, they have to have a town clerk and that point has come.”
“Selectmen don’t really have the right to let their personal, emotional responses interfere with what they have to do for the town,” Hull said.
Hull said Hanna was made aware of the meeting and of the selectmen’s decision. “I would say that she was not pleased,” he said.
Hanna declined a request for comment.
Bremen hired Hanna in July 2011 to replace retiring Town Clerk Joanne McGregor, who has been serving as a deputy town clerk since Dec. 15.
Hanna did not qualify for job protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Hull said, because the law doesn’t apply to towns with less than 25 employees and doesn’t protect employees with less than a year of service.
