Daniel V. McKinnon, who represented Mooney, and Stephen J. Reid, who represented Jeffrey, said it has consistently been their position that the firing was precipitous, coming as it did before the investigations by the two state agencies were complete.

The Attorney General’s Office completed its investigation on Oct. 12. The Health Department completed its investigation on Dec. 20.

Lt. Robert Neill, president of the Pawtucket firefighters union, said the decision to fire Mooney and Jeffrey before the investigations were finished denied them due process.

“Our position all along was if there were investigations going on, the city should have held off,” Neill said.

But Stephen M. Rappoport, the lawyer for Maria Carvalho’s family, said the investigations were “in arenas that my client had no control over. The standards (in a civil court) are totally different.”

Rappoport, who has filed a $4 million wrongful death action against the city on behalf of Maria’s husband, João, said he believes that, when the case is finally tried, the verdict will be that the city and its agents were “willfully and grossly negligent.”

Rappoport said that city’s decision reinstating Mooney and Jeffrey was “totally expected,” because it supports the city in its contention that it is not legally liable for Mrs. Carvalho’s death.

City Solicitor Margaret M. Lynch-Gadaleta said the city decided to give Jeffrey and Mooney their jobs back after the Attorney General’s Office exonerated them of criminal wrongdoing and the Health Department found that they were not guilty of professional misconduct.

But she said the city was right to fire the firefighters when it did, a week after Mrs. Carvalho’s death, based on the information that was available at the time, and the circumstances. She brushed aside allegations by the firefighters’ lawyers and the union that the firing was precipitous.

“I’m sure that they’re advocating as best they can for their positions. I don’t put any credence in Monday morning quarterbacks,” Lynch said.