A Superior Court Judge has ruled that the Governor and Secretary of Human Services overstepped their authority when they fired, now former Holyoke Soldiers Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak at the facility.
The Judge did not say that the Superintendent could not be fired --only that the authority rested with the Board of Trustees.
Officials say they will meet next week to decide what to do next.
The Attorney for Walsh said in a statement last night "For several months Superintendent Walsh has been vilified by the Governor Baker, Secretary of Health and Human Services and and others. I hope that this decision will allow people to consider that perhaps that criticism is unfair and that the actual story of what happened has not yet been understood.”
76 residents of the Soldiers Home died during the pandemic prompting the original action from the Governor.
(Photo Credit: John Baibak/WHYN News)