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Town justified in firing employee who missed work following son’s murder, arbitrator says

An arbitrator has ruled that the town of Sudbury was justified when it fired a municipal employee who missed too much work after his son's shooting death. File

SUDBURY, Mass. – An arbitrator has ruled that the town of Sudbury was justified when it fired a municipal employee who missed too much work after his son’s shooting death.

The MetroWest Daily News reported Wednesday that after former public works employee Anthony Zanco used up all his sick, vacation and personal time, as well as a month and a half leave, he had 41 unexcused days off following the March 2014 death of his 17-year-old son, Tyler.

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Tyler was killed during a drug robbery in Waltham.

A town lawyer said while Zanco experienced “an unimaginable tragedy … it is axiomatic that you have to report to work to keep your job.”

Zanco’s union compared the absenteeism to jury duty.

Zanco said he was disappointed with the decision but understands it.

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