Massachusetts
Massachusetts fired its elder affairs chief. Now she’s taking the state to court. – The Boston Globe
The civil suit against the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Kate Walsh, the state’s former health secretary alleges racial discrimination, retaliation, coercion, intimidation, and threats. Other named defendants are Christopher Harding, the agency’s chief of staff, and Sonia Bryan, director of human resources.
A spokesperson for HHS said Wednesday that the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.
Walsh did not respond to a request for comment. Walsh left HHS in July 2025.
Chen was appointed to lead elder affairs during the Charlie Baker administration. Turnover in top executive positions isn’t unusual when a new administration begins, but the suit notes that the only other HHS department or office head removed near the start of Healey’s administration, Mary Truong, who led the Office for Refugees and Immigrants, was also Asian.
Truong, who stayed with ORI in a subordinate position for several months, said in an interview Wednesday she did feel mistreated but was not certain that her race played any role. She noted that her interactions with Walsh were generally positive and HHS leadership never questioned her performance, saying only the migrant crisis in Massachusetts at the time meant ORI required leadership with more experience with issues related to homelessness.
“I feel so bad for her,” Truong said of Chen. “She was very outspoken and she was respected for her position and she was hard working.”
Chen emigrated to the United States from Taiwan in 1971. The lawsuit noted she still recalled being called racial slurs after being bused to a predominantly white neighborhood in 1974.
Before leading elder affairs, she worked as an assistant commissioner in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, served as president and trustee of the New England College of Optometry and New England Eye Institute, and president and chief executive of the biotech companies Circe Biomedical and Marathon Biopharmaceuticals. Chen was paid $146,623 last year, according to state records.
The lawsuit detailed how Chen’s deteriorating situation at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services began with a meeting that sparked concerns about discrimination and ended with Chen’s dismissal, despite efforts to meet Walsh’s performance standards.
The lawsuit lays out the sequence of events.
In a November 2023 meeting, Walsh raised serious concerns about Chen, saying she had excellent academic credentials but lacked sufficient leadership qualities for a job that was “too big” for her, criticisms the suit claims echo stereotypes about people of Asian descent. Walsh listed concerns about Chen’s performance, including elder affairs’ worker turnover and staffing, criticisms from former employees, and negative feedback from a legislator. Chen felt many of the criticisms were misplaced or inaccurate, but she agreed to professional coaching with the understanding that completing it successfully could allow her to keep her job.
The suit noted that meeting happened shortly after Walsh and Chen attended an event at a senior center in Boston’s Chinatown where Chen spoke Cantonese and Mandarin and was warmly received.
Through the first months of 2024, HHS executives assured Chen that she would be given the opportunity to show improvement, and that requiring coaching was not a disciplinary act.
It concerned Chen, though, that she was subjected to a comprehensive performance review, something no other HHS department head had received at that time, the suit states.
Still, Chen received assurances from Harding, the chief of staff, that if Walsh wanted her gone, she would have fired her in November 2023.
The coaching ended in April 2024 with a roadmap for improvement, which included benchmarks for Chen to meet. Shortly after, though, Walsh told Chen she was being let go.
In the month that followed, Chen attempted to get an explanation for why she was not given a chance to meet the standards in the improvement plan. She wrote a letter to Walsh stating that she felt she was “torn down” for being an Asian woman in a position of leadership, and noted a lack of direct communication and clear planning.
“When we talked in November, you should have been direct about your plan,” Chen wrote, according to a passage from the letter included in the lawsuit. “Instead, you were vague and presented mixed messages and questioned my competence and leadership.”
Chen was shocked when the secretary abruptly altered one of the terms of departure Chen expected at a meeting in May.
Chen left the elder affairs job on June 1, 2024.
The suit states HHS has also made it difficult for Chen to obtain public records requested for her defense, something subject to a second lawsuit from Chen.
The state’s elder affairs office, now called the Executive Office of Aging and Independence, serves roughly 1.7 million seniors, according to the most recent annual report, and is now led by Robin Lipson. Its services are in growing demand as Massachusetts’ population ages. The agency contracts with 24 regional Aging Services Access Points, nonprofits that offer services including meal delivery and home care. The office also oversees assisted-living facilities, home care, and supports people caring for elderly relatives.
Jason Laughlin can be reached at jason.laughlin@globe.com. Follow him @jasmlaughlin.
As libraries across western Massachusetts celebrate National Library Week from April 19 to April 25, they are honoring “the last real third space where everyone is welcome,” in the words of Greenfield Public Library Assistant Director Lisa Prolman.
According to the American Library Association, National Library Week is “an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.” This year, several libraries in the region will be hosting events to highlight the roles they play in their communities.
The Athol Public Library is among the venues engaging in National Library Week festivities, with a whole host of events starting on Tuesday, April 21, with Silly Goose Story Time at 10:30 a.m. The library will hold multiple events each day, including “Free Book Friday” on April 24, which Assistant Director Robin Shtulman said is “really fantastic.”
Shtulman said the week celebrates and emphasizes the “freedom to read, community outreach and celebrating the staff, without whom nothing would happen.”
The Athol Public Library said in an event announcement that “whatever brings you joy, the library has something for everyone,” and that aspect is being emphasized this National Library Week. To name a few of the events on tap, on Tuesday, April 21, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., there’s a volunteer opportunity where teens will make greeting cards for senior citizens; “A Minecraft Movie” will be shown at the same date and time; and on Thursday, April 23, the library will host Scavenger Hunt Bingo for all ages. For a full list of events at the Athol Public Library, visit atholpubliclibrary.com.
In Shelburne Falls, the Arms Library will feature a gallery from the Carlos Heiligmann Collection, a series of photos of public libraries across western Massachusetts. Also in collaboration with the Arms Library, Pothole Pictures and the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club will partner for a screening of “Free For All: The Public Library” on Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m. at the Shelburne Falls Theater at Memorial Hall.
The documentary focuses on the evolution of the public library from its origins in the 19th century and the challenges it faces today, with modern-day issues such as book bans, funding cuts and debates over censorship.
It also explores the role that women’s clubs, like the one in Shelburne Falls, played in creating the modern library system. To serve their communities, women’s clubs took the lead in fundraising, collecting books and advocating for library legislation.
“Our women’s club in this town started with a group of 60 women who were gathering for lessons. … Because of the support of women in the U.S., we established over 80% of the public libraries [in the country],” said Christin Couture, program chair for the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club. “This film … I hear it’s so fascinating.”
Following the film’s screening, there will be a panel of local librarians who will engage in “lively conversation” about the history and future of public libraries. Tickets are $6, though school-age children will be admitted for free.
In Charlemont, Tyler Memorial Library will host an open house on Saturday, April 25, from noon to 2 p.m. featuring refreshments, a tour of the library and sun catcher crafting.
The Greenfield Public Library, meanwhile, is taking National Library Week in a bit of a different direction, as it is offering a book repair demonstration with Tom Hutcheson on Thursday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m. The day marks William Shakespeare’s birthday.
Although the book repair session required registration and is currently full, those who are interested may be placed on a waiting list at greenfieldpl.libcal.com/event/16460179.
Greenfield Public Library Director Anna Bognolo recognized the hard work that everyone has put into making the library a success, offering a “huge thank you” to the volunteers and staff who make its varied offerings possible.
“Stop by and support your library,” Bognolo said.
“Libraries, especially in this economy, are more important than ever,” Prolman said. Referencing the library’s role as a place where community members can go that is not work or home, she added, “They are the last real third space where everyone is welcome, and we don’t charge you for being here.”
Massachusetts
New Bedford MS-13 Member, Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in Brutal Murders In Massachusetts, Virginia
Frankli
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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