By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — The attorney representing the family of the late Maria G. Carvalho said his clients, predictably, “are outraged” by the news that two dispatchers who are being cited for alleged negligence resulting in her death have been reinstated to the Pawtucket Fire Department.

Yet, attorney Stephen J. Rappoport said he doesn’t see the re-hiring of Sean Mooney and Chirstopher Jeffrey as having any bearing on the $4 million wrongful death claim that has been filed against the city.
“This case involves two different arenas. A finding of unprofessional conduct is different from negligence based on a standard of care,” said Rappaport.
Rappoport, who represents Carvalho’s widow, Joao, and her son, John, maintains he still has a strong case against the city and the numerous Fire Department officials who are named, based on testimony from a slew of experts he cites in the fields of medicine and established rescue protocol. “We intend to show goss and willful negligence,” he said.
Maria G. Carvalho was a 53-year-old kidney patient who bled to death from a dialysis shunt while waiting for an ambulence to arrive to her Gooding Street home on September 20, 2007.
Rappoport said that his clients, Joao and John Carvalho, are “not vindictive people,” they are nevertheless upset about the idea that the very people who they blame as contributing to the death of their wife and mother have been returned to the department. “I wouldn’t say they are distraught, but there is definitely a sense of outrage,” he said.
It was recently learned that Mooney and Jeffrey, who were fired a week after Carvalho’s Sept. 20, 2007 death, were reinstated to their positions as firefighters on the Pawtucket Fire Department as part of an agreement that was reached between the city and their attorneys. The two will be receiving retroactive pay dating back to the day of their firing, and will be able to retain any seniority and benefits they would have earned during that period.
Jeffrey has already returned, although not to dispatch, according to his attorney. Mooney is expected to return shortly, although it is unclear where he will be stationed. Fire Chief Timothy McLaughlin was not available for comment.
City solicitor Margaret Lynch-Gadaleta said that new training measures are being implemented throughout the entire department. Not only Mooney and Jeffrey, but the rest of the department will be undergoing additional training and education.
Rappoport said he was “not surprised” by the reinstatement, due to what he categorized as “the political nature of the parties involved.” “It was quite obvious this was a ‘fait accomplit’ from the beginning,” he asserted. He said he based his assessment on the city’s legal actions so far, which had included an attempt to block Mooney and Jeffrey from receiving arbitration afforded them by the firefighters union in their efforts to win their jobs back.
“It is in the city’s best interests to let this go away,” Rappoport stated. However, he added, that while the reinstatement attempts to “wrap it up in one neat package,” he said reiterated his position that a finding of un-professional conduct and negligence “are two different things.”
Rappoport noted that the Carvalhos have no control over what the city does or what the firefighters union does, and said he intends to pursue their case to the end. “It will be up to a jury to decide,” he stated.