This story by Chris Mays was published in the Brattleboro Reformer on April 27.
[N]EWFANE — A lawyer for the Hermitage Club and its founder is seeking to withdraw as counsel in three cases.
Donald Frechette of Locke Lord in Hartford, Connecticut, said the clients have “failed substantially to fulfill an obligation” regarding his services.
The Hermitage was “given reasonable warning that Frechette would withdraw his appearance if [the company and its founder] did not fulfill their obligation,” states the motion to withdraw appearance of counsel. A hearing will be held at Windham Superior Court, Civil Division in Newfane on Monday at 10 a.m. If Frechette’s motion is granted, the Hermitage and company founder Jim Barnes will be given 30 days after receipt of notifications to retain new counsel in the cases.
The cases involve a lawsuit filed by former Chief Financial Officer Dan Solaz, alleging that he is owed $159,000 for unpaid wages and bonuses, and a lawsuit filed by Reinhart Foodservice LLC, claiming the Hermitage breached an approximately $1.4 million promissory note and the two parties’ contract. Solaz worked for Hermitage from February 2015 until December 2017.
Barnes and the company are the plaintiffs in the third case, alleging that Robert Balewicz, the former broker of record at Hermitage Club Realty LLC, committed libel and defamation. Balewicz and former managing director of operations John Santaniello are suing Barnes and the company for sex discrimination and retaliation.
The former employees claim their jobs were terminated after their relationship was criticized for being homosexual. They also claim Barnes made oral sex simulations after insinuating that they had a quarrel and said, “It did not look good for two [homosexuals] to be running the club and living together.”
In court documents, Frechette said Balewicz was confronted by Barnes for substance abuse issues and for using foul and threatening language. Barnes claimed Balewicz would use racist and anti-Semitic slurs in the workplace.
“Mr. Balewicz’s response to his termination by Mr. Barnes was to embark on a course of defamatory conduct, aimed squarely at both Mr. Barnes and the Club,” Frechette wrote in December. Balewicz “has intentionally published to third parties that Mr. Barnes is a sociopath, has behaved illegally (including the payment of illegal referral fees and as the operator of a Ponzi scheme), has mismanaged the affairs of the Club (by whom Mr. Barnes is employed), and has engaged in ‘sexual/workplace harassment’ of Mr. Balewicz and another terminated employee… Balewicz has repeatedly, and intentionally, published to third parties that the Club is poorly run by inept individuals (some of whom have engaged in illegal conduct), and otherwise financially mismanaged.”
Frechette claimed the alleged defamation caused annoyance, embarrassment, stress, anguish and a temporary loss of reputation for Barnes. Since Barnes’ reputation is “synonymous” with the Hermitage, Frechette wrote, the comments have negatively affected the club.
The Hermitage is closed, having gone into foreclosure in February.
