The South Middlesex Opportunity Council has its headquarters on Howard Street near downtown Framingham.
(Bill Polo/Globe Staff)
By the numbers: The lawsuit known as "South Middlesex Opportunity Council Inc. v. Town of Framingham et al.," filed in US District Court in Boston on Oct. 24, is 99 pages long. However, an index of 90 exhibits makes the 7-pound, 3-inch-thick document the size of Manhattan's telephone directory.
The lawsuit charges: Beginning in 2005, a group of town officials and residents created a conspiracy to discriminate against SMOC clients, which was fueled by anti-SMOC propaganda postings on local Internet chat boards.
SMOC: Thirty-year-old, Framingham-based nonprofit agency with $60 million annual budget. It runs 75 state and federal programs serving 21,000 clients, most of them poor, elderly, or disabled, each year. Some clients are former or current drug or alcohol abusers, and some have criminal records.
Defendants: Fiifteen named individuals, with 13 Framingham officials - the town manager, the human services coordinator, three selectmen, four Planning Board members, and four Town Meeting members - and two private citizens, plus at least one anonymous town employee who criticized SMOC on local Web boards.
Damages sought: Unspecified monetary amount.
Other claims: SMOC asks that a judge be immediately appointed to oversee Framingham's dealings with the social services agency, and enforce federal civil rights laws applying to its clients.
Will it go to court? Maybe. SMOC said last week it would prefer mediation. Town officials say a court fight would cost Framingham at least $500,000, and probably much more.
Compiled by Erica Noonan
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
