It is very confusing when you send out a resignation letter, and the office of the mayor chooses not to accept it or not treat it as reality.
Sam Wong, the former Director of Public Health in the City of Framingham on December 29th, 2020 issued a letter to his bosses, to his friends and colleagues tendering his resignation. The time stamp seen on the first instance of this email was 12:02PM.
At some point over the next few hours Delores Hamilton and the Spicer Administration stepped in and convinced Wong to go on a “leave” instead. The city issued a press release shortly after 7PM on December 29th, 2020 to announce it.
The press release confused people. Perplexed, Laura Housman, a member of the Board of Health texted Wong within an hour of the conflicting messages.
On December 29th, the Framingham Source reported that Sam Wong had resigned. On December 31, The Metrowest Daily News released a story which agreed with the city hall explanation of a “leave”, complete with a quote from Sam Wong himself. City Employees were confused, so Human Resources Director Delores Hamilton worked with Wong to issue a statement on it to the staff to clear up the confusion.
There is a text message and phone call trail showing numerous calls between Jeanette Hinkle of the Metrowest Daily News and the Mayor’s Public Affairs officer Kelly McFalls leading up to the Metrowest Daily News story which sold the story of the “leave”.
And like that, Sam Wong was on “leave”. On February 25th, 2021 the city issued another press release announcing Wong’s resignation effective the next day, Friday February 26th.
Unfortunately that’s not what really happened.
Up until August 18th our researched timeline could be found on the calendars below, but the email we obtained on August 18th, found below) changed everything.
Sam Wong resigned. The city asked him to instead go on leave. In his formal letter by Wong requesting a “medical leave”, written two days after the city announced his “leave”, Wong also tendered his resignation.
Later, in the press release of February 25th, the city states that Wong officially submitted his resignation on February 24th, and his last day would be Friday February 26th. This however we now know to be a lie, as he actually had submitted his resignation on December 31.
The time of his “medical leave” turned out to be exactly the number of hours of vacation time he had accrued. This document, shows a request for vacation. We believe the date of request 12/21/2020 to be falsified.
This vacation use is further validated by his Sick (EI) balance increasing in his final weeks.
…and his Vacation balance decreasing until the time he resigned.
On Wong’s final pay period, his final accrued 32 hours of Vacation, was paid out.
