New Bedford Fire Chief Fired, Accused Of Lying About Injuries

NEW BEDFORD, MA — The former fire chief of New Bedford was fired after a city investigation turned up surveillance footage suggesting he lied about injuries that put him out on paid medical leave, the city said.

Paul Coderre was terminated for "dishonesty and untruthfulness in connection with alleged work-related injuries," Mayor Jon Mitchell said Tuesday.

Surveillance footage released Tuesday showed Coderre unloading a heavy barbecue smoker from his truck while he was supposed to be out on injury, the city said.

"The Personnel Office investigation yielded video surveillance evidence of Coderre performing activities inconsistent with his alleged injuries, including his unloading, without assistance, a 176-pound barbeque smoker grill from the bed of his personal pickup truck," the city said in a news release.

Coderre received $208,574 in injured-on-duty benefits while on leave between August 2020 and the end of 2021 and was exempt from paying state and federal income taxes while on injury leave, the city said.

Patch reached out to Coderre for comment but has not heard back.

Coderre went on injury leave in August 2020 for several work-related injuries he claimed to have incurred the year before while serving as acting fire chief, and he remained out of work until the end of last year while still collecting full pay, Mitchell's office said.

The city launched an investigation in June 2021 into the injury claims and ordered Coderre to have an independent medical examination last fall to confirm his claims.

The medical examiner originally accepted Coderre's alleged limitations caused by his injuries. But the examiner reassessed Coderre's assertions upon seeing the video evidence captured on multiple days showing no physical limitations, concluding that Coderre had been "untruthful" and "putting on an act," the city said.

New Bedford city officials said a hearing officer earlier this month found that Coderre had abused the department's injury leave policy. Coderre and his attorney did not attend the hearing.

"The former Acting Chief failed to adhere to the policies and procedures of his own Department, in doing so he betrayed the trust of the firefighters that served under his command, and he took advantage of city taxpayers who paid his injured-on-duty benefits," Mitchell said in a statement.

Coderre served as the city's deputy fire chief from 2011 to 2018. He was appointed to acting fire chief in December 2018 after the previous chief retired.

The findings of the investigation were passed on to the city's retirement board, Mitchell said.